Ford of Europe Production Lines Back Up and Running
Photo: Ford
As announced last week, Ford of Europe successfully restarted its production lines on Monday, marking the Blue Oval’s first major foray into returning to vehicle manufacturing. The relaunch is part of a multi-phased approach that will slowly bring vehicle production back online until it reaches full capacity within the next few months.
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Manufacturing got back underway this week at Saarlouis Vehicle Assembly Operations and Cologne Assembly Operations in Germany, Craiova Vehicle Assembly Operations and Craiova Engine Plant in Romania, and Valencia Vehicle Operations in Spain. According to the automaker, “everything went smoothly with great teamwork.”
Photo: Ford
On day one, Armin Laschet, the Prime Minister of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, accompanied Ford Motor Company of Germany CEO Gunnar Herrmann on a tour of the Ford Fiesta production line at the Niehl plants in Cologne.
“It is a good signal for North Rhine-Westphalia that production at Ford in Cologne starts again today,” the Prime Minister said. “7,500 employees are now coming back from short-time work, and they all help us to achieve a responsible normality. But that still means: be considerate and careful.”
Ford takes steps to keep employees safe
Employees at all facilities are being required to implement new global standards for safety and social distancing, including wearing personal protective equipment. To help ensure that Ford is not burdening the flow of PPE to healthcare workers on the front line in the fight against COVID-19, the plants are also simultaneously producing face shields for use within the company.
Ford will relaunch production at the Valencia Engine Plant in two weeks, and it has yet to set a timeline for operations to resume at Dagenham Engine and Bridgend Engine in the United Kingdom.
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Kyle S. Johnson lives in Cincinnati, a city known by many as “the Cincinnati of Southwest Ohio.” He enjoys professional wrestling, Halloween, and also other things. He has been writing for a while, and he plans to continue to write well into the future. See more articles by Kyle.