Daily Times

In the eastern Chinese city of Yuyao, a group of five face-masked workers at a Geely auto plant, stood almost shoulder to shoulder behind an SUV as they conducted paint and other quality checks. That scene would not have been possible a month ago.

But Reuters visits to six factories including those operated by Daimler AG’s China venture and Japanese chipmaker Renesas Electronics showed manufacturers in China have begun to ease strict physical distancing rules as the coronavirus outbreak is now contained. China’s daily new coronavirus cases have recently dropped to single digits.

The most significant rule to be relaxed – in line with an easing of guidelines by local governments – has been the requirement that production line workers stand at least 1 metre apart. That rule was put in place by many authorities in February when the outbreak was at its height in China but it was also a rule that auto industry insiders said had hamstrung productivity. “Workers need to work together to check the quality of the job,” Shen Qingguang, safety manager at Geely’s Yuyao plant where some 1,000 workers build sport utility vehicles for its Lynk & Co marque, told Reuters.

Employees often need to work together on the final assembly line in particular, he added. But where working close together is not deemed necessary, the 1 metre rule still applies and Geely office staff must work 1.5 metres apart. North American auto plants began reopening this week, introducing temperature monitors for those entering plants, personal protective equipment such as face masks and shields, as well as revamped and deep-cleaned factory floors that emphasise social distancing. Manufacturers in China are, however, several weeks or in some cases months ahead in terms of reopening, providing a window into how worker practices could evolve. That said, restrictions will vary by country and region. For Tesla Inc’s Shanghai plant, workers were required to maintain a distance of 1 metre in February but like many other China plants, that rule has now been eased.

In contrast, Tesla’s “Return to Work Playbook” published this month for its Fremont, California factory calls for workers to maintain a distance of 6 feet or 2 metres, or for barriers to be established where that is not possible.