Volkswagen Group, Bosch and Foxconn are keeping their workers on-site in their factories in Chengdu after the Chinese metropolis locked down its 21 million residents to contain a COVID-19 outbreak.
The automaker’s factory, jointly operated with its local partner FAW, entered a so-called “closed loop system” Thursday evening to maintain production, a company representative said on the phone on Friday, without elaborating.
Bosch has shifted to a closed-loop operation at two manufacturing sites for power tools and automotive components in Chengdu, with office staff working from home, a spokeswoman for its China business said.
Foxconn, the largest assembler of Apple devices, is also adopting the method at its facility that makes iPads there, according to a person familiar with the decision.
First used during the Beijing Winter Olympics as a way of keeping athletes and support staff separate from the wider population, closed loop, or factory bubble, is a China invention used to keep its economy running amid punishing efforts to stamp out COVID’s spread.
Closed loops typically require workers to travel from on-site accommodation to the factory and back, strictly avoiding contacts with outsiders, and be tested regularly for COVID.
Companies such as Tesla have even kept their workers sleeping on the floor during the Shanghai lockdown earlier this year.