In COVID-19 news today, manufacturers, especially those deemed “essential services” by states with “shelter-in-place” orders, continued to innovate and implement work conditions designed to alleviate the spread of the coronavirus.
Several companies, including Ford Motors, began implementing and announcing plans to flex their manufacturing might in service of providing medical devices and other services. And on Capital Hill, members of Congress continued to hammer out the details of the government’s financial support for businesses affected by the coronavirus.
Automakers Make Moves on Medical Equipment Promises
Ford Motors released more information today on its efforts to support medical equipment manufacturers. The Dearborn, Michigan-based truckmaker announced that it was designing face masks and ventilator parts with 3M and GE healthcare, respectively; in the meantime, Michigan plants manned by UAW workers began assembling and testing thousands of transparent face shields. Elsewhere, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk reported the delivery of more than a thousand Chinese ventilators to officials in California. Read the full story here.
S&P Global Ratings Forecasts Steep Decline in Auto Sales
S&P Global Ratings projects a double-digit decline in light vehicle sales in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and lower global growth. Global sales will decline by nearly 15%, the credit ratings agency forecasts, falling to less than 80 million units in 2020 versus 90.3 million in 2019.
“We expect this decline will be particularly severe in the second quarter of the year, only gradually recovering thereafter provided that restrictive measures are effective in slowing the contagion,” said Vittoria Ferraris, S&P Global Ratings credit analyst, in a March 22 press announcement. Moreover, she added, “intense credit pressures” are ahead for automakers.
The decline in light vehicle sales in the U.S. and Europe is estimated at 15% to 20% in 2020, with the United States achieving a low double-digit recovery in 2021. S&P forecast U.S. light vehicle sales at 16 million units in 2022. A limited recovery in Europe in 2021 will deliver 19 million units sold.
China’s light vehicle sales will decline less, falling by 8% to 10%, according to the forecast.
Short-Term Pain, Long-Term Innovation
Ford may be tweaking its supply lines to produce masks and ventilator parts, but other manufacturers have their sights on further-out innovations inspired by the COVID-19 outbreak. A new white paper released by ABI Research examines possible ramifications of the viral pandemic on factory technology, including lights-out manufacturing, autonomous materials handling, and a smarter, more resilient supply chain. Read the full story here.
Safety Precautions
The fuzzy line on which manufacturers count as “essential” and which do not continued to be relevant as states continue enforcing “shelter-in-place” orders that have forced many businesses to cease noncritical operations. Companies remaining open received more guidance today on how to keep their workers safe on the factory floor and reduce transmission of infections disease. Read the full story here.
Local Manufacturers Doing Their Part
New Orleans, Louisiana-based GNO, Inc., announced today it was launching an initiative to motivate local firms to allocate their businesses towards products and services to help the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative, called GNOpivot, will reach out directly to local manufacturers with hospitals, governments and public agencies, or private companies directly fighting the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Whiskey announced a partnership to devote its distillery talents to producing free hand sanitizer for the Cleveland Clinic. The partnership was engineered by the Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network (MAGNET), a local nonprofit organization dedicated to incubating small manufacturers and advocating for the sector in Northeast Ohio.
