EN NOKIAN TYRES HEMOS EMPEZADO A TOMAR MEDIDAS DE PRECAUCIÓN CON RELACIÓN AL ESTALLIDO DE LA PANDEMIA DEL COVID-19
18 de marzo, 2020. Nokian Tyres ha tomado medidas de contingencia para garantizar la continuidad de la actividad empresarial.
Here is an update from March 27th on Nokian Tyres’s approach to managing impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Due to the impacts, Nokian Tyres will temporarily cease production at its factories to guarantee the health and safety of its employees.
The Dayton factory closure is effective Friday, March 27, and will last a minimum of two weeks. At Nokian Tyres' Russian factory, the production shutdown will start on Monday, March 30 and will last for a week. Nokian Tyres will continue supplying customers through its regional warehouses. You can read more of the Russian and US factories here.
The employee cooperation negotiations concerning all personnel based in Finland at Nokian Tyres plc, Nokian Heavy Tyres Ltd, Vianor Holding Oy and Vianor Oy ended on Friday, March 27th. As a result, all 1,630 employees in Finland are planned to be temporarily laid off.
A two-week shutdown in Nokia factory, Finland, begins on April 6th. This includes both the personal car tire production as well as Nokian Heavy Tyres’ production and is aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, which has increased the uncertainty in the car and tire market, the Board of Directors of Nokian Tyres plc (“Nokian Tyres”) has decided to withdraw the Company’s financial guidance for 2020 published on February 4, 2020. Due to the prevailing uncertainties, the Board is not in a position to give a new guidance. You can read more here.
Nokian Tyres is closely tracking updates from global health organizations and following the guidelines issued by local governments in all areas we operate. We are taking all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of our employees. We have temporarily suspended all business travel and asked our employees not to have face-to-face meetings. In most of the countries, we have moved to remote work in all the roles it is possible, and in Russia we are preparing for that.
The company has issued self-quarantine rules to our employees traveling internationally on high outbreak areas. All travelers, business or leisure, are expected to stay in self-quarantine for 14 days after returning.
In Russia, we will be adjusting our production output in line with global demand in a flexible way. In the United States, we have postponed recruitment of additional employees at the Dayton factory. We are monitoring the situation and will resume the hiring process as circumstances allow.
In Spain, construction work at the site of the new testing center has been ceased. The contractors will resume work as soon as it is safe, but this will mean the project in Spain will have some delays.
Since the beginning of the outbreak in China, we have activated our global Business Continuity Program and taken all actions within our control to ensure employee safety and customer delivery. Strategic resiliency is the strength of Nokian Tyres’ delivery network. We have taken extra precautions to ensure deliveries to our customers and prohibited visits in our factory locations.
As of March 25th, COVID-19 is unlikely to cause a raw material shortage that would put Nokian Tyres plc production at risk. We have taken extra risk management measures to mitigate the risk in our raw material supply chain.
Most of our raw materials suppliers operate mainly in a normal way. However, we do see delays in deliveries as well as in transportations. We do have safety stocks that cover the delays we have seen so far or foresee in the coming weeks. We also have back-up suppliers. We follow the situation closely and update the status as the situation develops.
Requests for additional information: Tarja Kuittinen, Corporate Communications Manager, tel. +358 10 401 7912