After the largest manufacturing plant for automobiles in the world shut down due to COVID, many wondered when it would reopen. Turns out the answer is April 27th, 2020, which was not expected whatsoever.
Volkswagen had to shut down the factory for the first time in 82 years, and they had to make some concessions to see it reopen. Having to make hundreds of changes to the process and individual safety guidelines to keep their employees healthy.
📺 “I work at the #Wolfsburg plant on our target that all our vehicles will be digitally connected and constantly online. Stay healthy!” #WeNotMe #Volkswagen pic.twitter.com/y7O2kEfhny
— Volkswagen News (@volkswagen) April 26, 2020
We’re glad to see the factory coming back up. The massive building is historical and impressive, having assisted and built 45 million cars since 1945. This location is also where the iconic VW Bug was created, you can’t be mad at that!
Reopening the factory is a show of development in Europe trying to determine how to open the economy back up. Particularly when a good portion of the European population works in the automotive industry.
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Exactly what is changing at the plant to ensure safety?
Firstly and foremost, the production process is being started slowly. They’re not going full tilt and churning out cars left and right, the plant will take it’s time to properly come back up.
Secondly, the workforce will be much more stringent, bringing in only 8,000 employees at a time instead of the usual 20,000. Additionally, social distancing will be highly encourage and in some cases mandatory. Conference rooms will be converted into dining areas so that employees can maintain a safe distance.
There’s only one other major thing that Wolfsburg has not figured out just yet, which is production parts deliveries. After all, they have no way of 100% vetting every delivery driver who comes in, meaning that in some cases it’s a bit of a gamble.
Hopefully this is a good sign for the VW business and the European Economy in general. We definitely need some reopenings as people have signed onto unemployment in unseen numbers.
We’ll see if this optimism continues, be sure to let us know what you think of this update from Wolfsburg! Follow us here at Scoophash for more updates!
