Italian manufacturers will resume gradually their factory activities
Ducati will restart working on engine development and meet their delivery deadlines. MV Agusta targets reaching 25,000 units per year while the Piaggio Group is keen on resuming production in their factories.
Ducati
The Italian brand is set to gradually restart the production lines in its Borgo Panigale factory from 27th of April. At the moment, only the essential employees will resume their activities. Workshop staff will begin first, then engine assembly workers and, from Tuesday 28 April, motorcycle assembly workers. The other Ducati departments will still use smart working as a mandatory solution for the time being. 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. Moreover, the work schedule has changed 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 main focus is put on engine development. The Research and Development activities had already resumed with 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. Besides this department, Ducati is making sure that all deliveries meet their deadlines, so all designers, project managers, and those in the calculation department will work remotely.
MV Agusta
In an official statement, the Varese manufacturer stated that their goal is to resume production and focus on growing from 5,000 to 25,000 units per year. So, the first step MV Agusta is taking is to resume production gradually. Therefore, they redesigned internal procedures and implement measures to continue production and office work with maximum safety. New sanitisation features were enforced to assure that employees resume work with all the health measures put in place. Thus, some office employees continue to work from home while the spare parts warehouse resumed their activities to guarantee worldwide customer support.
Furthermore, the production is scheduled to restart, new investments are set to make sure the five-year plan is doable to reach 25,000 units each year. So, MV Agusta investments are regarding the production lines, Research and Development Department to build new models and reach new motorcycle markets.
Piaggio Group
Following the steps of their rivals, Piaggio Group, the brand that owns manufacturers such as Aprilia, Moto Guzzi and Vespa, will resume their production after signing an understanding protocol with its Pontedera workers’ trade union. As the health measures imply, the activities will restart step by step and the goal is put of safety to make sure that each employee is given the necessary equipment needed due to the current situation.
