Battling Lockdown Woes: Daimler India Resumes Operations Near Chennai

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) resumed operations at its plant at Oragadam near Chennai. The company said it will increase the operations in a phased manner.

The company was able to restart in less than 24 hours after receiving permission from the local authorities. The company had started intensive preparation even before the government lockdown came into effect over a month ago.

"DICV’s number one priority is the health and safety of our stakeholders, from our employees and customers to our dealers and suppliers," said Satyakam Arya, Managing Director & CEO, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles.

"Being part of the Daimler global network allowed us to see the implications of COVID-19 before the lockdown was announced here in India."

We immediately initiated a Crisis Management Team to steer us safely through this difficult situation,” said Arya.

The crisis management team (CMT) consists of representatives from across the organisation and holds virtual meetings with DICV’s top executives on a daily basis.

“Information and agility is the key to crisis management. With a cross-functional team we were able to source facts quickly from inside and outside the organisation, then together decide on a course of action which could be implemented or revised at a moment’s notice,” added Sanjay Kumar, General Manager of Facility Management and nominated head of the Crisis Management Team.

The CMT has initiated hundreds of health, safety and sanitization measures over the last few months, ranging from mass cleaning of DICV’s 400 acres Oragadam plant to renovations of facilities designed to ensure social distancing norms are followed

The company is ramping up gradually with a minimum workforce of essential employees to start, then a planned move to full capacity as and when the lockdown ends.

Dealerships across the country have already begun to reopen as local restrictions ease, ensuring BharatBenz customers have access to the free service and warranty extensions the company began offering at the start of the crisis, Kumar added.