Renault has restarted production at its Douai plant in northern France after a three-day hiatus caused by a massive fire at interior supplier, Recticel, which has thrown several OEMs’ just-in-time plans into considerable flux.
The French automaker was forced to send its workforce at Douai, where it makes the Espace, Scenic, Grand Scenic, Megane and Talisman models, home for three days on partial pay and is now evaluating how to make up the parts shortfall, should production continue to be disrupted.
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Precise details as to the origin of the blaze remain sketchy, but Recticel confirmed a “severe fire” triggered the complete closure of its Rai Most division in Czech Republic and impacting heavily on several OEM supply chains.
Recticel provides elastomer interior trim parts, such as skins for dashboard and door panels, which are sold to various Tier-1 automotive suppliers, but is citing Force Majeure after Czech authorities closed the plant on safety grounds.
“For the moment, production has restarted at [the] Douai factory – with three shifts,” a Renault spokeswoman told just-auto from Paris. “Next week to adapt for supply, we will work with one shift, but we will continue producing the five models.
“Solutions are being thought about – production for the moment is from [existing] stock. For two weeks we are going to [manufacture] five vehicles, but working one shift.
“We are studying several scenarios to limit rupture [in] production.”
In a sign of just how fragile supply chains can be if suddenly disrupted, Renault added it sent employees at Douai home using the French ‘partial unemployment’ system whereby the State pays a certain amount with the automaker making up the remaining salary to 95%.
For its part, Recticel earlier noted: “Recticel is now in a position to confirm no one has been hurt. Since 27 January, part of the premises is again accessible to engineers and contractors and clean-up activities are ongoing.
“RAI Most is covered by insurance policies which are in line with industry standards. Recticel is currently not in a position to assess the financial consequences of this incident.”
Recticel’s Rai Most factory is in North West Czech Republic.
