Along with the rest of the world, we are closely monitoring the developing situation with the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19). We are committed to minimizing the impact on our customers and partners while keeping our employees safe.
On March 10, 2020, Connecticut State Governor, Ned Lamont issued a Declaration, ordering residents to stay in place and non-essential businesses to cease operations. Schwerdtle has been deemed a critical manufacturer and an ‘essential business’ and therefore continues to operate. As an essential business, we are committed to fulfill orders, manufacture products and provide service to our customers to keep critical products and services flowing in this challenging situation.
Communication is very important during this time. Our team is working with our partners and vendors to ensure timely supply of materials on a daily basis. We ask that our customers, suppliers and partners do the same so we can take timely action to adjust as needed.
We continue our operations but want to take this opportunity to share the steps we have taken in response to the outbreak so far:
Working to ensure continued service to our customers:
- Our operations team is engaged in consistent communication with our supply chain
- We have proactively communicated with all first and second-tier suppliers to help anticipate and alleviate any possible effects from the virus.
- Specific to China, we do not have any critical suppliers outside of the US.
- Our teams proactively identified and are in the process of qualifying alternative suppliers in areas that could potentially see impact from the virus.
- We continue to keep close communications with our procurement leaders and suppliers, to secure capacity, and utilize the most appropriate logistics solution.
- We remain committed to doing all we can to provide customers with undisrupted service and supply while protecting everyone’s health and safety.
Policies being enacted to protect employees:
- We have implemented a ban on all work travel for all employees.
- Following COVID-19 guidance from the CDC, WHO, and state and local health officials, we have made the decision to move to a work-from-home policy, with the exception of operations, until further notice.
- By having fewer people in the office, those who do need to physically come in to work will be safer, as will our families, customers, and our community.
- For those whose role requires them to work onsite, we are taking the following actions to ensure safety as we work to maintain business continuity and serve our customers:
- Additional hygienic measures have been implemented.
- Reducing the potential for large gatherings of people by staggering start times, breaks, and lunches to the greatest extent possible.
- Meetings are conducted over the internet.
- We will continue extra cleaning protocols previously put in place.
- Continue limiting visitors to the facility and screening all visitors prior to arrival.
- Reinforcing behavioral guidelines around social distancing through reducing occupancy in common areas.
- Cancelling any other events where more than 10 people assemble.
In these challenging times, our goal is to protect the health and safety of our employees, our families, our communities and our customers while keeping the world up and running through this unprecedented situation.
Your primary contacts remain available and you can reach us as you usually would. Our team continues to proactively monitor the rapidly evolving situation and will contact customers individually if we anticipate potential changes in delivery schedules.
Updated: March 30, 2020