Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will restart some production this week after a major cyber-attack forced the company to shut down its factories and send workers home. Manufacturing will resume first at JLR’s engine factory in Wolverhampton, but it is expected to take several weeks for all operations to run at full capacity. The resumption of production will be a relief to JLR’s suppliers, who have faced huge financial pressure due to the shutdown. A £1.5bn loan guarantee has been announced by the government to support parts and service suppliers.
The cyber-attack, which occurred in August, forced JLR to shut down its IT systems and send workers home. The attack is believed to be costing the company at least £50m a week in lost production. A group claiming responsibility has said it was a “scattered” hack that affected the company’s factories in the UK, Slovakia, China, and India.
The shutdown has had a significant impact on suppliers, with many forced to lay off staff due to lack of income. The government has announced support for JLR, but experts say it is not enough, calling it a “toothless solution”. Suppliers need labor and payroll cost relief and tax reliefs to recover from the crisis.
JLR’s recovery program is underway, and the company says its global parts logistics centre is returning to full operations. However, the restart process will be done in phases, and industrial processes may take days to get back up and running.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckge0ex5g27o