DENSO suspending Maryville plant production as car production slows

MARYVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — DENSO is suspending production at its plant on Monday, March 23 and Tuesday, March 24.

In a statement from the company on Friday, March 20, DENSO is changing its customer production and support social distancing among employees. Production stoppage duration will vary across its locations based upon individual circumstances. The company said it will reevaluate operations to assess risk and customer situations prior to resuming production.

The facility in Maryville is DENSO’s largest in the United States with four manufacturing plants that cover more than 2.3 million square feet. The company employs over 4,000 people and produces starters, alternators, instrument clusters, various automotive electronic products and inverters for hybrid vehicles at the facility.

“To protect the health of our employees, we are disinfecting DENSO facilities frequently, providing hand sanitizer and practicing social distancing,” the company said in a news release. “Additionally, individual locations will utilize a limited number of on-site employees, depending on location-specific needs. DENSO strives to keep in-person headcount as low as possible, to support its efforts in social distancing, minimizing employees’ exposure to germs and facility disinfection.

“To our knowledge, we do not have any confirmed cases of COVID-19 among our workforce in (North America), and Maryville.”

Visitors will not be permitted at DENSO facilities unless it is for a “business-critical purposes.” Individuals who were in close contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19, or have cold or flu-like symptoms within the last 14 days, will not be permitted.

All business-critical travel requires senior executive approval, the release states.