31st May – Spring Break Shutdown – is this really necessary???

In manufacturing, specifically…automotive manufacturing, there are fixed shutdowns. These commonly occur the last week in May (tagged on to the last May bank holiday) as well as the traditional Summer Shutdown (2 weeks usually) and the period between Christmas and New Year. The shutdown this week is referred to as Spring Break….Natalie and I have been discussed whether this shutdown is really necessary. It is very close to the Summer Shutdown period and we wonder whether it could do more harm than good to shutdown at this point in the year. We completely understand and agree that fixed shutdowns are great in order to carry our essential and preventative maintenance on key pieces of equipment. However, we also feel that as the SMMT publicised that Q1 of this calendar year saw automotive increase its productivity from a passenger car point of view, could the spring break shutdown do damage to this upward trend? We canvassed opinion from a variety of candidates and clients with very mixed response. Some people are able to work through the shutdown period and if they can, they will. It gives them more flexibility in terms of annual leave and means that they can take a break at a more affordable time of year. Others like the fixed shutdowns as it means that they don’t get disturbed as production isn’t running. Generally though, it was felt that the Spring Bank Shutdown is a vital one. That a lot of work is done in this time that benefits production in the following weeks. Also, given that automotive manufacturing has been on the increase everyone feels ready for a break AND there is more work to be completed on the equipment than previous years!! What are your thoughts??