Photo: Daimler
The global chip shortage is far from coming to an end, and the latest big name that has no other option than to temporarily halt its production process is Daimler.
The company has recently announced that the car manufacturing operations at two German plants will be put on hold for seven days, while the nearly 18,500 employees will face reduced work hours as Mercedes-Benz struggles to deal with the lack of chips for its vehicles.
Car production lines at both the Bremen and Rastatt plants have been suspended on April 23, with the operations projected to return to the typical schedule on April 30. Daimler, however, says the decision will not impact special projects.
The company has also explained that it’s impossible to tell when the whole thing will return to normal as the lack of chips is still a major concern for everybody in the industry.
The global chip shortage is a result of the growing demand for electronics, which in turn has been caused by the international health crisis that hit the world in early 2020.
With a significant number of people moving from their corporate offices to ad-hoc working environments at home, the demand for electronics, such as PCs, laptops, smartphones, tablets, and others, all of which were supposed to keep them productive even from the safety of their own homes, has substantially increased chip orders for the biggest foundries.
Most chipmakers are already operating at 100 percent capacity, but they still can’t align the production with the current demand, especially because device manufacturers are now trying to build inventories that would help them deal with any potential shortage that could still be encountered.
In the meantime, other companies are stepping in to help carmakers. Intel has recently confirmed that it will start building chips specifically for the automotive industry, with its production lines to be ready in approximately 9 months.
Car production lines at both the Bremen and Rastatt plants have been suspended on April 23, with the operations projected to return to the typical schedule on April 30. Daimler, however, says the decision will not impact special projects.
The company has also explained that it’s impossible to tell when the whole thing will return to normal as the lack of chips is still a major concern for everybody in the industry.
The global chip shortage is a result of the growing demand for electronics, which in turn has been caused by the international health crisis that hit the world in early 2020.
With a significant number of people moving from their corporate offices to ad-hoc working environments at home, the demand for electronics, such as PCs, laptops, smartphones, tablets, and others, all of which were supposed to keep them productive even from the safety of their own homes, has substantially increased chip orders for the biggest foundries.
Most chipmakers are already operating at 100 percent capacity, but they still can’t align the production with the current demand, especially because device manufacturers are now trying to build inventories that would help them deal with any potential shortage that could still be encountered.
In the meantime, other companies are stepping in to help carmakers. Intel has recently confirmed that it will start building chips specifically for the automotive industry, with its production lines to be ready in approximately 9 months.
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