Maruti Suzuki expects to reach full capacity levels at its troubled Manesar plant by October, said Subir Moitra, Managing Executive Officer of Supply Chain, on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters at the sidelines of the Automotive Component Manufacturers’ Association 52nd annual session, the official said new worker hiring and conversion of some existing contract workers to permanent positions are expected to be completed by September-end, by when a second shift will also be started at the plant.

These workers will join the 1,100-permanent labour force, who have already returned to the factory since production resumed on August 21, after over a month of stoppage. Around 500 permanent workers had been dismissed by Maruti in August on alleged involvement in the July violence. The Manesar factory last made about 581 units on a single day’s work across two production lines. At full capacity and with about 3,300 workers, the facility can churn out 1,900 cars units a day of the Swift, Dzire, A-Star and SX4 models.

“In the next three to four days we will reach the full production capacity of a single shift, about 700 units a day,” the official said

Increased automation

With the company undertaking a complete churn of its labour force, focus will now turn to increased automation levels through higher use of robots.

This will reduce dependence on manual labour and leave less chance for production disruptions – it lost 33 days of production last year on a labour strike and about 27 more days this year.

>roudra.b@thehindu.co.in

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