The management of the Toyota factory in Valenciennes, the first French factory to restart its activity, plans a gradual resumption of activity, with many modifications on the northern site, which usually produces 1,100 Yaris per day. On Thursday, only 50 cars will be assembled there. 

INTERVIEW

It is the first car factory to resume activity in France, despite the coronavirus crisis: the Toyota factory in Onnaing, near Valenciennes, reopened on Tuesday. Out of a workforce of 4,500 people, 1,000 people are due to reactivate production at the northern site on Thursday. But before this partial restart, workers and production managers must be trained in new production conditions to ensure everyone's safety, as assured by the president of the factory, Luciano Biondo, at the microphone of Europe 1.

Gel, masks, ground identification…

It all starts in the parking lot of the factory which has produced Yaris for twenty years: "We have implemented essential measures to enter the site, where we must put on masks and hydroalcoholic gel. Then, employees will put on visors in places where it is difficult to keep all the rules of distance, "says the plant manager. This continues on the flows, where the "new protocol" built by Toyota makes it possible to "avoid the crossings and that people can be too close".

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It's not just the production lines that have undergone changes: "We have closed catering and distribution machines, readjusted meeting rooms and rest rooms", details Luciano Biondo, who highlights " a lot of adaptations "in the factory. It shows, according to Fabrice Cambier, employee and union leader Force Ouvrière: "The company has put the package so that people can work safely. We have the gel, the masks, the identification on the ground ... We could always ask for more but, today, everything has been done in terms of health protocol. "

85% of exported production

If "today and tomorrow (Tuesday and Wednesday, note), we train, Thursday, the production staff will arrive", be trained and then "test production": "Who better than production people to know what are the adaptations to make to produce cars in the future? "asks Luciano Biondo. 

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The direction of the factory counts "to make about fifty cars in test", Thursday, against 1.100 on an ordinary day. "The first step is to take the time to adapt the industrial tool," says Luciano Biondo. But while containment is still strict in many countries, is restarting production essential? "We build 85% of production abroad and there are countries in which the dealers are open, such as Northern Europe or Germany," insists the site director. "In May or June, we will still have to deliver to our customers."