Although we can't comment on Wuling Motors' (HKEx: 00305) switching to mask production during this critical period, it won't stop us from praising the company's commitment to the crisis, and focusing on what's before and what's after: how to cope with short-term production of the masks, and how to get production back to work afterward.
On the morning of February 6, a piece of information about "SAIC-GM-Wuling switching to production of masks" has been widely publicized, and in this critical period of the nation's fight against the new type of pneumonia, "Travel Finance" contacted SAIC-GM-Wuling, hoping to provide a complete explanation of the entire process of the car company's decision-making to the outside world in the form of written interviews and replies. The company's response to the nationwide outbreak was also discussed in a written interview and response.
Overview 1: "SAIC-GM-Wuling's switch to mask production" does not mean that the company produces masks on its automobile assembly line, but rather, it adopts a commissioned production method: it joins hands with upstream supplier Guangxi DeFuTe Group to produce masks by modifying the production line, with SAIC-GM-Wuling providing support in the areas of production management, project management, equipment safeguard, quality control, packaging, etc. The company has been working on this project for over a decade, and it has been working with the company since then. The company provides personnel and technical support in production management, project management, equipment security, quality control, packaging and other aspects.
Overview 2: The joint production of masks, with the active promotion and close cooperation of all parties, took less than 5 days from the proposal of the idea to the concrete implementation stage, which is not only an innovative initiative in the automotive industry, but also the best interpretation of the efficient linkage between the government and enterprises, and putting the health and safety of the public in the first place.
Overview 3: the project financial support, by the National Development Bank to provide 50 million loans; project approval, has been the relevant government licenses to support the opening of a "green channel" within the scope of the controllable to handle the complete qualification verification, approval and certification of the normal process will take 43 days to shorten to less than 20 days, it is expected that by March can be handled all of the automotive industry, the government and enterprises to efficiently link the best interpretation of all the public health and safety first. It is expected that before March can handle all the required procedures: Employees: the existing workshop has been the production of employees *** 92 people, *** plans to add 85 people, February 7 before all in place.
The following is a transcript of the interview and response:
Travel Finance: what is the background and motivation that led to this event?
Wuling: After the outbreak of new coronavirus-infected pneumonia, most areas and medical institutions across the country were in a state of shortage of medical supplies. As a company with a sense of social responsibility, SAIC-GM-Wuling also hopes to provide what it can to help with the prevention and control of the outbreak.
On January 31, SAIC-GM-Wuling got the relevant requirements of the Guangxi Autonomous Region Party Committee and Government for the prevention and control of the epidemic, and the company urgently purchased and shipped back 20,000 medical masks from Indonesia and India to support the prevention and control of the front line. With the continuous development of the epidemic, many countries, including Indonesia, the mask as a strategic reserve materials, can not be sustained from abroad to buy and transport back to the country.
Combined with the advantages associated with the automotive "big industry, big industry", SAIC-GM-Wuling put forward a plan to mobilize suppliers' resources to produce masks, which was strongly supported by Guangxi District, Liuzhou City and Laibin Municipal Governments.
In order to implement the idea as soon as possible, SAIC-GM-Wuling actively coordinates the resources of all parties, and adopts the way of joint upstream supplier Guangxi DeFuTe Group to produce masks by modifying the production line, and SAIC-GM-Wuling will provide personnel and technical support in the areas of production management, project management, equipment security, quality control, packaging, etc. During this period, SAIC-GM-Wuling will provide technical support for the production of masks.
During this period, the leaders of the autonomous region personally visited the factory to understand the existing production conditions, made quick decisions, and coordinated all-round support for the project from financial support, project approval and other aspects.
The joint production of masks, under the active promotion and close cooperation of all parties, it took less than 5 days from the idea to the concrete implementation stage, which is not only an innovative initiative in the automotive industry, but also the best interpretation of the efficient linkage between the government and enterprises, and putting the health and safety of the public in the first place.
Q: What is the specific construction plan of the project, what is the current progress and when is it scheduled to be put into use?
A: According to the project construction plan, supported by the district government project funds, Guangxi Construction Engineering Group is responsible for the original production workshop of Guangxi DeFuTe Group converted into 2000m2 dust-free workshop, completed and put into use in this month (February 2020), *** set up 12 mask production lines. According to the configuration of production equipment, labor and other resources, the daily production capacity of masks is expected to reach 1.7 million.
At present, the production lines have been remodeled and production preparations have been initiated. The construction of the dust-free workshop is being carried out simultaneously, and the professional production equipment is scheduled to arrive on the 26th, which can meet the production standard of medical grade masks.
Q: What specific work has SAIC-GM-Wuling carried out in the project?
A: In the early preparation of the project, SAIC-GM-Wuling obtained the relevant requirements of the Guangxi Autonomous Region Party Committee and Government on the prevention and control of the epidemic, and made full use of its supply chain advantages to put forward the plan of mobilizing suppliers' resources for the production of masks, which was strongly supported by the Guangxi Region, Liuzhou City and Laibin Municipal Government.
After the project was approved by the government, SAIC-GM-Wuling immediately set up a special working group, led by the company's leadership to promote the rapid progress of the working group to carry out site inspections, discuss the development of production line modification program, the implementation of personnel and technical support, and to assist Guangxi Deftech to carry out the communication of the relevant government departments, the application for funding for the project, and the certification of the production qualification and other aspects of the work. During the project period, SAIC-GM-Wuling will continue to provide personnel and technical support in production management, project management, equipment protection, quality control, packaging and other aspects.
Q: What are the main difficulties of the project and how to solve the problems of capital, labor, equipment and raw materials?
A: The project has received strong support from Guangxi District, Liuzhou City and Laibin Municipal Government, which has enabled us to fast-track the work in terms of financial support, project approval and qualification certification.
Financial support, by the National Development Bank to provide 50 million loans; project approval, has been approved by the government to support the opening of a "green channel" within the scope of the controllable, for the complete verification of qualifications, approvals and certificates (including, but not limited to, production licenses, business licenses, health permits, product qualification certificates, medical device business enterprise license) The company will shorten the 43 days required for the normal process to less than 20 days, and is expected to complete all the required procedures by March. In terms of personnel and production technology, SAIC-GM-Wuling will provide personnel and technical support in the areas of production management, project management, equipment safeguard, quality control, packaging, etc., so as to ensure rapid mass production and ramp-up.
The existing workshop has a production staff of *** 92 people, in order to meet the demand for production capacity, in addition to SAIC-GM-Wuling's support staff, will be supplemented by the social recruitment of personnel, *** plans to supplement 85 people, all in place before February 7. February 5 onwards for the whole community to recruit, as of February 6 at noon, there have been 30 people applying for jobs, the recruitment of work has been supported by the relevant leadership of the industrial zone. The recruitment work has also been supported by the relevant leaders of the industrial zone where the recruitment work is carried out.
Q: What is the main business of this joint production of masks supplier? What are their advantages in producing masks?
A: The company that co-produces the masks is the upstream supplier of SAIC-GM-Wuling--Guangxi Deft Group Co. The company has set up branches in Liuzhou, Xi'an and Wuhan, and has established a "Joint R&D Center for Automotive Polymer Sound-absorbing and Insulating Materials" with Wuhan University of Technology, which has mature manufacturing and technical research and development capabilities.
The raw material for the production of masks is mainly polypropylene, and the production of polypropylene products with a melt mass flow rate of 33-41g/min can meet the standards of polypropylene meltblown nonwoven fabrics for sanitary materials, which are used in the fields of medical and surgical supplies, and sanitary products for civil use. Currently SAIC-GM-Wuling production of some products, it is used in medical supplies can be used for high-specification materials polypropylene to produce sound insulation cotton. In terms of raw materials and production technology preparation, the production of masks has a great advantage, and the production line can be quickly started after professional modification.Q: Will the production of masks affect SAIC-GM-Wuling's normal resumption of work and production operations?
A: The production of masks by the joint supplier has not affected the normal production of SAIC-GM-Wuling. According to the plan and government requirements, SAIC-GM-Wuling will go to work normally on February 10th and start production on February 15th. As for dealers, in areas where conditions permit and safety is ensured, dealers will take turns to work shifts to serve customers and strictly observe the requirements of health and safety management in the service process.
Q: How do you ensure the quality of the masks and what professional standards are met?
A: The masks are all produced in accordance with the technical requirements of medical protective masks GB19083. Currently in the trial production stage, only the production of simple masks, will not be sold to the public for the time being, applicable to factories and other general places of daily protection, will not be used for professional medical purposes. After the completion of the clean room, we will be able to produce masks for professional medical use.
Q: Is the company qualified to produce masks? Is it temporary or long-term, and how is the production capacity planned after the epidemic?
A：Guangxi DEFORD Group, which is responsible for the production of masks, has set up a new medical device company--Guangxi DEFORD Medical Devices Co. Ltd. has completed the business license of the medical device company, and in the government's "green channel" support to quickly handle the medical device production license, plans to carry out long-term production of masks.
Q: How will the produced masks be distributed?
A: Currently in the critical period of epidemic development, the masks belong to the strategic material reserve, the masks produced by this project will be uniformly deployed by the Guangxi regional government, and used to support the medical institutions to carry out epidemic prevention and protect the health and safety of the public.
QHow do companies implement measures to protect their employees during an epidemic?
A: In order to further implement the government's requirements for epidemic prevention, the company requires that personnel currently stranded in Hubei not leave Hubei before the epidemic is effectively controlled; employees returning from Hubei area (business trip, self-driving, etc.) or coming into contact with people in the infected area from January 8 onwards will be reported, registered, isolated for 14 days, and have two medical checkups per day, and return to the workplace only after their physical condition is normal at the end of the 14-day incubation period.
In order to minimize the impact of the epidemic on the health and safety of employees, the company set up a special working group for epidemic prevention and control, with the company leader directly acting as the head of the leading group; established an epidemic prevention and control duty room for regular tracking of the situation in each section and timely response; issued the internal document "SAIC-GM-Wuling Health and Safety Requirements for Epidemic Prevention and Control (Trial)", focusing on the implementation of protective measures in the following areas: Strict implementation of epidemic prevention and control in the following areas: temperature testing and strict control of personnel entering the plant, paying attention to the health of personnel on business trips or stationed abroad, maintaining the hygiene of the plant's public **** environment, and setting safety requirements for information and gatherings.
This article comes from the author of the automobile home car family, does not represent the views of the automobile home position.