Cooper Tire Europe (Cooper), part of Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, plans to reopen its motorcycle and race tyre plant in Melksham, England, in the first weeks of June and hopefully resume production by mid-month. Cooper has operated the Melksham plant since its 1997 acquisition; however, the plant was left idle since late March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
To help protect the approximately 400 employees returning to the plant, Cooper has implemented a number of health and safety procedures that include required employee disclosures, increased cleaning and disinfecting of facilities and equipment, social distancing and physical barriers, visitor restrictions, and other measures.
Similar procedures have been in effect at Cooper’s other manufacturing plants in China, the US and Serbia, all of which reopened in the past couple of weeks after temporary closures, and are in various stages of ramping production back up according to demand. Meanwhile, Cooper’s global distribution network has continued to operate throughout the pandemic.