[TusharK]

According to a media report, Maruti Suzuki had shut down production at its Gurgaon and Manesar plants for one day. Employees at the two plants were given a day off on Monday.



A slowdown in sales and rising inventory levels had prompted Maruti Suzuki to cut production by 10% in April 2019. Production was also reduced in the months of February and March for the same reason.

According to the data released by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), car sales have been on a decline since February 2019. Last month, the personal vehicle segment shrunk by 2% compared to March 2019.

The combined annual production capacity of Maruti's Gurgaon and Manesar plants is around 15.5 lakh units.

Source: Business Today

Link to Team-BHP News

[GTO]

For India's largest car manufacturer to completely shut down production like this is a big, big deal. They have massive fixed costs, so in terms of the per unit cost, it's actually better to keep the factories running. However, when the network is carrying enormous inventory levels of unsold cars in a sluggish market, there is no choice.

Also IMHO, cutting production is better than increasing discount levels. Just read up on how GM, Ford & Chrysler almost killed themselves by getting addicted to discounts.

Good for Maruti employees though. They must've enjoyed a 3-day weekend , and this will be a 4-day week.

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by GTO

Good for Maruti employees though. They must've enjoyed a 3-day weekend , and this will be a 4-day week.

Is this how current factories operate? Some 2 decades ago I did a training stint in Bajaj Auto factory in Pune. Back then the factory used to operate in 3 shifts with probably Thursday off. I don't clearly remember about the weekly off part.

I don't think other than the weekly off, it used to have any other holidays marked in the calendar.

[aditya.86]

Originally Posted by shipnil

Is this how current factories operate? Some 2 decades ago I did a training stint in Bajaj Auto factory in Pune. Back then the factory used to operate in 3 shifts with probably Thursday off. I don't clearly remember about the weekly off part.

I don't think other than the weekly off, it used to have any other holidays marked in the calendar.

All major automobile manufacturers operate 3 shifts a day, 365 days a year. The only exception would be yearly line maintenance for a particular model. I used to work in a company that used to manufacture shock absorbers to Hyundai. So basically even the sub vendors operate the same shifts as their main customer.

I guess the weekly off in Pune was due to non availability of grid power on Thursdays if i am not wrong.

[sharninder]

How many cars do they make per day ? Wanted to understand how much shutting down for a day helps inventory levels ?

[avdhesh15]

Originally Posted by sharninder

How many cars do they make per day ? Wanted to understand how much shutting down for a day helps inventory levels ?

Capacity is approx 15 lacs. So around 4000 cars daily.

[procrastinator]

It makes sense to slow the production with sales; shutting seems a big thing.
Perhaps they would be able to carry out nice factory maintenance work with an off.

On a lighter note, a conversation of man working at Maruti's factory.

Wife: You are not going to factory.
Husband: It's off today.
Wife: Great. We'll go out today.
Husband: For a movie, Aladdin.
Wife: Yeah

Husband(thinking)
Is Factory off a good or bad news?

[pranavGTI]

Originally Posted by shipnil

Is this how current factories operate? Some 2 decades ago I did a training stint in Bajaj Auto factory in Pune. Back then the factory used to operate in 3 shifts with probably Thursday off. I don't clearly remember about the weekly off part.
.

This is how exactly today's manufacturing plants operate based on their confirm and forecast sales volume. Generally Indian manufacturing companies shutdown their plants for a week for maintenance which is called as M-off. In low production season, they utilise non-production days like these to do annual maintenance of their equipment and machines in a phased manner.

[volkman10]

After slowdown in the market now Auto companies face SPACE Crunch due to piling inventories.

Maruti Suzuki, which has a capacity to manufacture 15.5 lakh cars at its facilities in Gurgaon and Manesar, is dealing with an inventory of around 50,000 vehicles compared to an average 25,000-30,000 cars

Companies cut down on production due to piled up inventory:

- Maruti Suzuki drops production by 10% (April)

- Toyota by 29%

- Ford by 28%

- Tata by 1%


Link

[HKap]

Isn't this normal? If my memory serves me right, Maruti had shut down production last year too. Did they mention the reason for the shutdown?