Italian motorcycle brand Ducati's main factory at Borgo Panigale will gradually resume production on April 27. Ducati had temporarily suspended production in its Bologna plant on Friday, March 13, in compliance with regulatory protocol for measures to combat and contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus in the workplace. Then the decision to suspend all non-essential activities was announced, Ducati said in a statement, despite the organization being ready, production did not restart. Now, Ducati is set to resume production, and new bikes will begin arriving in dealerships.
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The gradual improvement in health conditions has allowed the government to enable companies deemed strategic for the national economy, whose activity is mainly aimed at exports, and for which a prolongation of the suspension would risk losing our country additional market shares, to resume production. This is a first phase of return, which at the moment will only involve a part of the workers destined for the production lines. Workshop staff will begin first, then engine assembly workers and, from Tuesday, April 28, motorcycle assembly workers.
Ducati will maintain strict safety measures for essential employees and remote working for many
As for employees, the use of smart working will remain mandatory, only those who are not in a position to carry out their work from home will be allowed to access the factory. All resources employed in the commercial, marketing, IT, personnel management, finance, purchasing and logistics areas will therefore be working remotely. The production has been reorganized, going from an eight-hour shift to two seven-hour shifts to allow the minimum number of people to be inside the plant at the same time and thus minimize possible contact. The canteen will be active but with one seat for every four chairs.
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"We are ready to go, we have worked hard over the past few weeks to minimize any risk," said Claudio Domenicali, Ducati CEO. "Despite this we will have to be extremely cautious and rigorous. The virus is still in circulation and we must therefore be careful to combat any possible form of transmission. This is the reason why all the people present in the factory will wear masks, we must protect the population from the presence of asymptomatic positives who, although in a very small percentage, are present today and will not be identified by the mandatory temperature test. Serological tests can help but they represent only a snapshot; they should be repeated every day before entry, and this is obviously extremely difficult. This is why masks and distancing are so important."
"We will obviously adapt the protocols to the evolution of the health situation and to the indications given by the State and the Emilia-Romagna Region. We have been in constant touch with President Bonaccini, whom I thank for the support, with councillor Colla and with commissioner Venturi to prepare us better for this eventuality. The two-wheel market is highly seasonal, and the stop to production in March and April has already had negative effects on sales. The Chinese market is already booming, sales in Korea and Japan are doing well. In Germany, dealers have been open for a week and we already have a major shortage of product. I really believe that this restart can allow us to reduce at least in part the negative effects of the lockdown that we were forced to respect, unfortunately at the worst time."
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Ducati customers are able to set up a remote discussion with the dealership, book a test ride, and more
The technicians engaged in Research and Development activities who cannot do their work from home were already at work as allowed by the specific ATECO code: therefore the engineers of the engine test rooms, those who carry out motorcycle tests and those who carry out laboratory testing are all present at Borgo Panigale, Ducati said in a statement. All designers, project managers, and those in the calculation department will work remotely. This will ensure the deliveries of Ducati motorcycles and the development of new products.
The Ducati CEO maintained that the brand's order book is very positive with lots of orders and interest for the brand new Ducati Streetfighter V4, production for which was halted just one month after its launch. There are also many orders for the Ducati Multistrada 1260 S Grand Tour and the Ducati Panigale V2, as well as empty warehouses for the Ducati Multistrada 950 and the Ducati Scrambler 1100 PRO.
All the rules of conduct in force in Ducati comply with the updated shared protocol of April 24, and for some points they are even more restrictive. For example, inside the company there is an absolute requirement to use masks, regardless of distancing. The entire Ducati protocol is the result of the work of a joint commission between the company and the RSU (unified worker representation body) that was formed on February 23, just two days after the discovery of the first infected person in Italy.
Many of the measures inserted are the result of a careful analysis of the protocols used in the Chinese plants of the VW Group, in particular the FAW-VW of Chanchung, where production was suspended only for one week but where strict protection, distancing and sanitising measures are still in force, the statement said.
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