Our reporter Yang Zhongyang
"Thanks for all the care and support, Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory resumed work smoothly today." On April 19, Tao Lin, Tesla's global vice president, sent an exciting message in the circle of friends.
Last week, He Xiaopeng, the founder and chairman of Xiaopeng Motors, issued an early warning that "automotive companies across the country will stop production in May".
At present, from the central to local governments, from OEMs to parts companies and logistics, while coordinating epidemic prevention and control, the pace of resumption of work and production has been accelerated.
Accelerate the pace of resumption of work and production
Under the deployment and coordination of governments at all levels in Shanghai, on April 17 and 18, 8,000 Tesla employees returned to the factory one after another.
"Tesla Gigafactory officially resumed work from April 19. On the morning of the 19th, the battery workshop and motor workshop took the lead in gradually resuming work, and around 1 p.m., the OEM also started." Tao Lin told the Economic Daily reporter, "Then In the next few days, we will gradually climb the slope and then reach full production in a single shift."
At the same time, many Tesla parts suppliers in Shanghai have also resumed work and production, becoming the area with the largest proportion of Tesla's supplier partners.
Tesla suppliers located in Zhejiang Province are also actively cooperating under the guidance of the government to ensure production and open up logistics to support Tesla's resumption of vehicle manufacturing.
On the same day, SAIC Group's Lingang Passenger Vehicle Plant completed the first vehicle off the assembly line under the pressure test of resumption of work and production this week.
"At present, we adopt a single-shift work system, and have checked the production capacity, inventory and raw materials of nearly 400 suppliers. At the same time, we have also paid close attention to the dynamic production situation of lower-level suppliers, and tried our best to assist and support lower-level suppliers, and strive to return to the epidemic as soon as possible. The previous shift system." said Chen Peifeng, director of SAIC's Lingang Passenger Vehicle Plant.
More than 200 Shanghai-based auto suppliers and vehicle logistics companies have started the resumption of work and production at the same time as SAIC.
According to the "Guidelines for the Resumption of Epidemic Prevention and Control of Industrial Enterprises in Shanghai (First Edition)" issued by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, Shanghai-based vehicle manufacturers and parts companies such as ZF and Faurecia are all on the whitelist. .
Weilai Automobile said that due to the influence of the supply chain, Weilai's vehicle production was suspended on April 9, but the supply chain has recovered slightly from the 14th, and the Hefei production base has gradually resumed production.
In response to the blocked supply chain, government departments such as Anhui Province and Hefei City have taken relief measures.
FAW Group in Changchun and BMW Brilliance in Shenyang are also resuming work and production.
On April 16, all five OEMs of FAW Group in Changchun resumed work, with a total of 7,438 people returning to work.
At present, FAW-Hongqi Ulsan Plant, FAW-Volkswagen and FAW-Toyota have rolled off the production line, and FAW Bestune and FAW Jiefang have started production.
25,117 of FAW's 276 parts suppliers have returned to work.
Song Xiaohui, deputy director of the Jilin Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, said, "As the situation of epidemic prevention and control and resumption of work and production shifts, the Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology will further support FAW Group in actively exploring the establishment of epidemic-free factories, 'point-to-point' staff transfers and semi-closed operations. Under the premise of strictly preventing the bottom line of the epidemic, we will promote the resumption of work and production of enterprises in batches and regions, and quickly and orderly, so as to promote enterprises to race against time to achieve production and efficiency, maximize production load, release production capacity, and strive to achieve stable production and full production.”
The resumption of production in the major town of the automobile industry is of great significance
"If Shanghai and surrounding supply chain companies can't find a way to dynamically resume work and production, all OEMs across the country may stop production in May." On April 14, He Xiaopeng threw out the "stop production theory" and quickly got Huawei The response of Yu Chengdong, CEO of consumer business and CEO of smart car BU, detonated public opinion.
Chen Shihua, deputy secretary general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said, "It's not so absolute, but there may be a large-scale shutdown of production."
Although general car companies have limited time to rely on inventory to maintain normal production in the event of interruption of spare parts replenishment, the specific situation of the supply chain of each manufacturer is different, and it is also possible to find alternative channels to replenish production resources such as spare parts to achieve normal production.
However, if the resumption of work and production cannot be resumed for a long time, it will definitely bring a great drag on the industry.
"Affected by the epidemic, in mid-March, Weilai had already cut off the supply of some parts and components, and it lasted until last week with inventory support. Recently, the outbreak of the epidemic in Shanghai, Jiangsu and other places has caused more partners to be unable to supply and can only suspend production. In a reply to users not long ago, Li Bin, the founder and chairman of Weilai Automobile, said frankly: "One car can't be produced without one part. This situation is not ours, and many manufacturers have suspended production."
Shanghai and its surrounding areas are the core gathering areas of the global auto industry.
In 2021, the national automobile production will be 26.528 million vehicles, of which SAIC Motor will produce 2.8332 million vehicles, accounting for 10.68% of the national total.
More importantly, the region is home to many global auto parts multinational companies and a large number of local Chinese parts suppliers, whose business scope almost covers automotive engines, power batteries, chips, body interior and exterior trim and other links in the industrial chain.
According to the report of the China Automotive Technology Research Center, among the key core components companies in the automotive industry, engine companies in the Yangtze River Delta region accounted for 47%, transmission companies accounted for 53%, power battery companies accounted for 56.65%, and battery control system companies exceeded 70%, its industrial importance is self-evident.
"At present, 9 of the top ten auto parts groups in the world have their Chinese headquarters in Shanghai. There are also thousands of large-scale auto parts companies and more than 20,000 small and micro enterprises in Shanghai and its surrounding areas, covering almost All parts of a car are produced." Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the National Passenger Vehicle Market Information Joint Association, said that it is precisely because the automobile industry system in Shanghai and its surrounding areas has a strong supporting role in the national automobile industry, so it is more necessary to accelerate the promotion. The auto industry in Shanghai and surrounding areas has resumed work, production and logistics.
Collaboration across the entire industry chain is critical
Although it has entered the whitelist for resumption of work and production, the progress of resumption of work and production in various units is also inconsistent.
Ye Chunlei, the sales director of Shanghai Daimei, an auto parts company, complained in the circle of friends, "Going to various communities to 'get people' with the whitelist red-headed documents and rework notices, some properties and neighborhood committees don't recognize them at all."
In his view, it is estimated that the operating rate of 30% will not be reached by the end of next week.
"It's not difficult to understand. The resumption of work and production is a process of coordinated and gradual recovery by all parties. The prerequisite is to do a good job in epidemic prevention and control and safety assurance. It requires not only the coordination of the entire industry chain, but also the support of all social links." Cui Dongshu said , "Even if employees return to the factory to resume work smoothly, there are still problems of ramping up production capacity and making up for shortcomings in basic living conditions."
"Parts can't come in, products can't go out" is a real problem faced by many parts and components companies in Shanghai and surrounding areas.
If the automobile industry is compared to a precision machine, the suppliers are the gears, big or small. They mesh with each other to drive the operation of the big machine.
But as He Xiaopeng said, the good news is that the relevant ministries and local governments are doing their best to coordinate.
Luo Junjie, spokesperson of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and director of the Operation Monitoring and Coordination Bureau, said that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is taking multiple measures to ensure the smooth and stable supply chain of the industrial chain, and establish a daily scheduling mechanism for leading enterprises in key industrial chains such as automobiles, integrated circuits, and consumer electronics. The role of the smooth coordination platform of the industrial chain and supply chain ensures the stable production of key enterprises and the smooth operation of key industrial chains, strengthens inter-departmental linkage and policy coordination, and timely coordinates and solves problems and demands in the logistics and transportation of enterprises, and strives to achieve "raw materials can be transported in, products can be delivered. shipped."
On April 11, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology launched the "Automotive Industry Chain Supply Chain Smooth Coordination Platform". Through the platform, information can be exchanged on practical issues such as resumption of work and production, logistics and transportation, and the establishment of a problem appeal and feedback mechanism for enterprises in the automotive industry chain supply chain. Coordinate and solve the practical difficulties faced by enterprises in production and operation in a timely manner.
Cui Dongshu said: "In addition, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has previously dispatched a front-end working group in Shanghai to go deep into the leading enterprises in the industry chain to coordinate and solve urgent problems affecting stable production such as alarms on key raw material inventories in a timely manner. I believe that short-term pressure can be quickly resolved. The industry has cut production on a large scale.”
"Automotive is an industry with a very long industrial chain. The resumption of work by Tesla means that many suppliers will also resume work, so as to ensure stable and continuous production. We have also compiled a list of more than 100 suppliers in the industrial chain. Provide it to relevant departments." Tao Lin said, "We have always been confident in the Chinese market, and believe that this round of epidemic is just a short-term test or challenge. From the process of resumption of work, we have seen the ability of all walks of life in China to cope with challenges, and I believe that it will soon be normal production can be resumed.”