VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV) has resumed manufacturing operations in seven of its plants in the country. These plants located in Pithampur, Dewas, and Baggad in Madhya Pradesh and Thane in Maharashtra have resumed lean operations after the required permissions were granted by the state governments. VECV says it had earlier initiated sanitisation processes, maintenance of plant and machinery, annual stock-taking and various steps required to maintain social distancing and other safety norms.
Lean operations have been initiated at 25-40% levels in these plants with strict adherence to the guidelines and advisories laid down by the Central and State Government as well as the local authorities. The priority continues to be to service the customers with despatch of parts to various service centres, already produced BS VI vehicles, and meeting the needs of transporters engaged in delivery of essential goods.
The VE Powertrain plant has also resumed manufacturing and exports of engines for Volvo Group requirements. Eicher Engineering Components (EEC) plants at Dewas have resumed lean operations to meet requirements of exports customers engaged in agricultural tractors, harvesters, essential mining and construction segment. Additionally, the EEC plant at Thane has also received limited permission to resume lean operations where work will commence soon as per strict government guidelines.
Commenting on the resumption of operations, Vinod Aggarwal, MD and CEO, VECV said, “We’re pleased that we have been granted permissions to resume operations. While we take all the necessary steps to ensure safety of our workforce, we hope that the resumption kickstarts the journey of revival. We continue to work with lean teams to address critical dependencies while we wait for the manufacturing operations to resume in full swing. Till the entire supplier and dealers network is mobilized, our key focus will remain on dispatching parts and ready vehicles, and ensuring our plants are ready for the when the lockdown is lifted entirely. “
VECV dealerships have been maintaining emergency support for vehicles carrying essential goods with Eicher On Road Service (EOS 24x7). Currently, 139 workshops and 40 site support setups are partially operational as per permissions from the respective government authorities. New processes have been introduced to ensure all safety norms at these workshops including social distancing, sanitization of premises and vehicles before servicing, thermal screening and other checks to ensure safety of workforce as well as customers and drivers visiting the workshops.
VECV has extended warranty, free service, and annual maintenance contracts till June 30 for its entire Eicher Trucks & Buses range.