Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone) is executing the final phase of a restart plan for its manufacturing operations in North America and Latin America, that began the week of May 11.
The company is targeting the end of May for its North American passenger tire plants and all manufacturing facilities in Latin America to resume operations. The ramp-up of these remaining production facilities will bring all Bridgestone Americas manufacturing locations back into operation, the company says.
Bridgestone says the well-being and safety of employees remains the company’s most important value. All plants will resume operations in alignment with the latest safety protocol guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to support a safe and healthy environment for employees, the company adds.
In late-March, Bridgestone Americas initiated its phased restart plan to support the increasing demands of essential business segments and partners serving those segments. The company’s Bandag retread rubber manufacturing plants in North America resumed operations the week of March 29. On April 13, the company restarted its North American commercial tire plants, North American Firestone Industrial Products and Firestone Building Products manufacturing facilities.
“We remain laser-focused on employee safety at all Bridgestone Americas facilities,” said Paolo Ferrari, CEO and president of Bridgestone Americas. “As our remaining facilities come back online, we will continue to take a measured approach and utilize the latest safety protocols from the CDC as a foundational roadmap to guide our restart activities. Close collaboration with local, state and federal authorities, as well as site leaders throughout all of our operations has been and will continue to be a key component of our success as we bring our teammates back to work,” added Ferrari.
In addition to following the latest CDC guidance, Bridgestone Americas also developed a Return-to-Work Health & Safety Playbook outlining essential measures and protocols that must be followed before production resumes.
