Takata Petri, the third-largest manufacturer of automotive parts in Romania by turnover, is considering a reduction of the working week from five to four days, depending on the trend of the automotive industry which continues its freefall both in Europe and in the United States.
"We began operations in 2009 with the entire staff, but the biggest problem is that we cannot forecast the trend of orders for more than two weeks. Whereas before we could see three months ahead, clients may now change their orders much more often," Takata Petri officials said.
Takata Petri makes safety systems for cars in Romania in its two factories in Arad and one in Sibiu. According to the latest data from the Finance Ministry, the local branch of the Japanese company ranks third among producers of automotive parts in Romania, after Continental and Michelin, with 245 million euros in turnover in 2007.
Takata officials did not provide details about their target for 2009.
"The 2009 budget has not been finalised yet because we have not concluded the previous financial year. We are operating in accordance with the Japanese financial calendar, which ends in April," Takata officials said.
They added that the business in December, when most automotive parts makers sent their employees home on technical unemployment, was 50% lower than budgeted.
Takata Petri did not resort to technical unemployment, but reduced the working week to four days for all its employees towards the end of the year. The company is currently employing 4,000 people at its factories in Arad, where it makes seat belts and driving wheels, and 1,200 people at its factory in Sibiu, where it makes airbags. The main clients of the company are Western European carmakers such as Volkswagen, BMW and Audi.
"We resumed operations at peak capacity, even though the situation may change until the end of the month, to be able to make fast deliveries to our clients," Takata officials said.
They added they would not make any people redundant or send them home on technical unemployment, whereas most automotive parts manufacturers are set to take such steps unless the market rebounds.
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