The chairman and CEO of Cummins has been briefed on vital work at the Darlington site, during a visit where he met workers and senior leaders at Yarm Road.
Tom Linebarger was welcomed by plant manager Craig Thomas and had a meet and greet with the leadership team before a tour and one-hour town hall with more than 200 employees, talking about covid, future ambitions, staff support and growth plans for Cummins, a partner in the Northern Echo's Level Up campaign.
Read more: Cummins to build new £14m engine testing facility at Darlington
His tour took in a number of areas, including the training room where he met operations apprentices. Mr Linebarger then went over to Technical Operations and looked at the apprenticeships work, on-highway and off-highway customers and was updated on the Euro VII low emission regulations.
Sophie Donnison, HSE Supervisor, said: “It was nice to meet Tom. He made everyone feel at ease and gave great advice, even just getting to know other people and their hobbies - we had an aerial yoga instructor and someone in the top 20 ping pong players for India. I enjoyed hearing everyone’s stories.”
Mr Linebarger was given a business update detailing how Cummins managed and powered through during the pandemic, where a key priority was keeping employees informed, ensuring strong communications, visible leadership and improving the working environment.
The business update also included a section on Euro VII and diesel growth as well as the Darlington Engine Plant layout, process, future plans and logistics.
Craig Thomas, Plant Manager, said: “The visit was a great opportunity for the Darlington Campus to showcase its hard work, innovation and future thinking.
"This brought all employees together, as it was the first town hall with over 200 employees since before the pandemic hit. It also gave us an opportunity to allow staff time with Tom, during which they discussed future projects for the Darlington site and gained great advice on how to overcome these challenges. He left with a very positive impression of the facility and employees.”
A few weeks ago, the company announced it would be investing £14m at its Darlington plant, building a new facility to test groundbreaking engine technology.
The new centre will mean Cummins can develop and test a wide range of power technologies, including engines to operate on green hydrogen, renewable natural gas, or sustainable diesel. Its installation and testing capability will also extend to hydrogen fuel cell and battery electric powertrains.
Ground preparation work for the new facility is now underway with the first phase expected to open for operations by May 2023
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