How to resume business operations? Toyota comes up with 'Restart Manual'

Toyota Kirloskar Motor on Thursday said it is ready to help the manufacturing sector in the country once operations resume with a 'Restart Manual' that has been developed by the company based on its past experience, guidelines from the government and safety procedures that would continue to be of prime importance.

Toyota claims that it has has used its 'years of rich knowledge, expertise and access to global best practices' to devise a comprehensive ‘Restart Manual’ as a guide for industries to follow post the lockdown withdrawal. The manual will be used by the company, its suppliers and has also been shared as a reference document with all Automotive ComponentManufacturers Associationof India (ACMA) members. Toyota says it also plans to share it with a wider segment of industry through industry association platforms like Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Toyota also claims that the manual is an all-inclusive guide for reorganizing and safely resuming business operations to near normalcy after the lockdown is lifted. "It’s our prime responsibility to ensure health and safety of employees, families and all our stakeholders. We need to safeguard business continuity and economic recovery as well by ensuring ‘Safety and Health First’ approach," said Masakazu Yoshimura, Managing Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor. "In this perspective, this ‘Restart Manual’ is prepared not only for our use but also for the benefit of government, industries and stakeholders."

The first phase of lockdown - announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24, was exteded till May 3 as India continues its fight to limit the spread of coronavirus. The government, however, has said that some relaxation could be given after April 20 in areas free from any outbreak.