Even during the coronavirus crisis, the Volkswagen Group continues to ensure supplies of genuine parts. In Germany, more than 95 percent of the about 3,500 service stations remain open so that customers can stay mobile.
Throughout the world, about 60 percent of the 25,000 service stations remain active. The Original Parts Center in Kassel ensures that genuine parts for repair work reach the workshop rapidly despite coronavirus. The order level is around one third of the normal volume. In these activities, the top priority is to protect the health of employees and suppliers at Kassel. At the Genuine Parts Center, comprehensive measures have been taken to ensure adequate distances between the employees concerned and compliance with the appropriate hygiene requirements. This also includes reducing the number of people working on logistics operations at any time by about one half. At the service stations themselves, health protection is also the top priority. Many businesses offer customers the possibility of handing over and collecting their vehicle without any direct contact with service personnel.
Roman Havlásek, Head of Group After Sales, said: “In the coronavirus crisis, many people need their car to travel to work, to provide goods for themselves and other people and to make necessary visits to doctors. Our customers, who include many people working in the health system and food retailing, have to rely on their vehicle more than ever before as a result of the coronavirus crisis. This is why it is so important for our team to maintain genuine parts supplies. This way, service businesses throughout the world can continue to carry out repair work. We would like to thank our large network of suppliers for continuing deliveries to a very large extent under these difficult conditions and the Works Council for their fantastic support in the definition and implementation of the measures required.”
Ulrike Jakob, Deputy Chairperson of the Works Council in Kassel, said: “For the Works Council, the top priority is the health of the employees. In some areas of after-sales, supplies of genuine parts to repair shops must be safeguarded. In these areas, employees are working in line with the protection and hygiene recommendations of the Robert Koch Institute in order to exclude the risk of infection as far as possible. No-contact logistics and the other measures that have been adopted have met with the approval of the employees. The Works Council will continue to support compliance with the measures that have been adopted. Especially under these difficult conditions, we would like to thank the employees for continuing to safeguard the mobility of the public through their work.”
The top priority for Volkswagen is to protect the health of its employees and suppliers. For this reason, comprehensive measures to ensure adequate distances and compliance with the applicable hygiene requirements have been implemented at the Kassel Original Parts Center, the global master depot of the Volkswagen Group. One key measure is a temporary reduction in the number of employees working at the facility at any time. For example, the logistics operations team has been reduced by about one half. With a few exceptions, employees in the administrative departments are working from their home office. In addition, work procedures have been modified in many areas to ensure adequate distances between employees and between employees and suppliers.
More than 95 percent of the Group brands’ 3,500 service stations in Germany currently remain open. Throughout the world, about 60 percent of the 25,000 stations are still active. They allow customers to have repair and servicing work carried out in accordance with the applicable local regulations. Many stations offer customers the possibility of handing over and collecting their vehicle without contact. Adequate safety distances between customers and service personnel are always ensured and additional hygiene measures are applied.
Background information on the Genuine Parts Center Kassel (normal operation)
About 2,400 people work at the Genuine Parts Center Kassel. They ensure the supply of parts to 86 countries throughout the world on a round-the-clock basis. The storage area is more than 1.2 million square meters. Every day, an average of 220 trucks, 111 railcars and 68 containers leave the Genuine Parts Center.