13.02.2020

JCB cuts back production

JCB has announced plans to cut back production at its UK plants due to anticipated component shortages from its Chinese suppliers impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.

A shorter - 34 hour - working week will begin next week, Monday, February 17th, until further notice, it follows an immediate suspension of all overtime.

Chief operating officer Mark Turner said: “The disruption to the component supply chain in the UK comes at a time when demand for JCB products is very strong, so while this course of action is very unfortunate, it is absolutely necessary to protect the business and our skill base.”

“More than 25 percent of JCB’s suppliers in China remain closed and those that have reopened are working at reduced capacity and are struggling to make shipments. It is therefore clear that the inbound supply of certain components from Chinese partners will be disrupted in the coming weeks as they seek to replenish their stocks. This inevitably means we will not have the required amount of parts needed to build our forecast number of machines in the short term.”

“These measures will ensure that, while we will produce machines in lower than anticipated numbers, we will do so with the same number of employees, whose skills we will need to fulfil customers’ orders when the situation returns to normal. We are keeping the situation under review and we anticipate a surge in production levels once this period of supply disruption has passed.”
Please register to see all images