The current situation as of 4/17/2020 is:
In Germany the contagion rate has dropped below 1, which means that one infected person spreads/infects less than one uninfected person on average and thus some easing of restrictions is possible. This is part of a slow and careful approach to normal. Social distancing is working well, people mostly accept it and act accordingly. Within our production facility, we are continuing with split shifts and isolated work areas. Production is proceeding and we are meeting all commitments to customers. We are not experiencing any supply side difficulties at this time. Our offices in the Philadelphia area are functioning and meeting all commitments. Sales and engineering support on both sides of the Atlantic have reorganized and are functioning well on a remote working basis.
VOLKMANN specific information on the current situation, availability and supply during the Coronavirus epidemic
Sales, Engineering, Support: Phone, Skype, Audio-/Video-Conferences
Production fully available and on service
Spares fully available in reasonable quantities per order/individual application
Field service available under special protective measures to be agreed; Skype, Facetime etc. available
Trial center available to a limited extent (no personal visits possible during Corona epidemic)
Other personal visits stopped until further notice to curb the Corona epidemic
Dear Customers and Partners,
During the Corona epidemic, we are taking a number of far-reaching measures to protect our employees and visitors while maintaining our ability to deliver, issue directives, and modify our normal business practices. We are going well beyond the currently recommended or prescribed hygiene measures. We are happy to be able to inform you of the latest information and steps we are taking, both in our factory and in our US facility, and to keep you up to date with our current status as well as some of the initiatives we have taken in the various areas of our working activities.
In our office operations, we introduced home based office work for most employees from the beginning of week commencing March 15th. Small, separate management teams support and coordinate this work from our headquarters in Soest, Germany and from our facility in Bristol PA.. Modern video conference technology allows us to continue work in our usual groups and departments. We can connect with our customers and suppliers via live web meetings and thus directly involve them in the planning, development and construction process. Our staff are voluntarily refraining from personal visits until further notice.
In our test centers, the test operations continue without any significant restriction. We have also added some procedures to go beyond our normal SOP’s, many of which we already apply for material quarantine and containment. Until further notice we can no longer allow personal visits, again to contain the Corona virus. Visitors; therefore, will not be able to participate directly in the tests in our cleanrooms. However, we’re offering an alternative: Upon request, in addition to the normal test protocol, we invite you attend our web-based live broadcast and/or to receive subsequent video documentation of the tests. We can run tests with the product you provide, or where possible with similar powders we may have. This will allow you to virtually witness the test, live, in a comfortable, safe, environment, all without annoying protective clothing. In addition you will save travel time and cost.
Our production facility is currently running without capacity restrictions. To protect our employees, we have introduced extensive hygiene measures, handling and segregation rules, which our staff gratefully accept out of their own safety interest. We are working in staggered shifts and segregated zones that are subdivided into quarantine areas. For further redundancy, we have additional very well-qualified employees, externally on standby, who can take on various tasks in customer service and production in the event of an emergency.
Our packaging and shipping team also work in their own independent zone. To secure our international customers, we certify the date, time and coded name of the employees involved in preparing the shipment and record these details on the outside of each package and or crate until the packaging is sealed. All aspects of our own parts supply are currently ensured. All spare parts are available at the time of writing. A close-knit control system monitors the delivery status and we report any deviations from the delivery date to our customers as soon as they are detected.
Our factory customer service is still available, now with additional regulations and health protection. All of our measures serve to preserve our ability to safely deliver our products and protect our customers. Volkmann systems and solutions are provided to keep people healthy (pharmaceuticals, hygienic consumables, baby care), well supplied with food (food processing and packaging), are used in mission essential activities to space (AM production). We are fully aware of our responsibility to maintain our work schedule, serving critical infrastructure industries. Many plants, especially in pharmaceutical, food and hygiene sectors, and some other critical industries, must not fail during the Corona crisis. We promise all of our customers to do everything possible to maintain our supply chains, to look for solutions to problems, to report regularly on our status and to enable deliveries to you.
Stay healthy! Best Regards
Thilo Volkmann, Managing Director, CEO
Nick Hayes, President, Volkmann, Inc.
VOLKMANN Inc. 1900 Frost Road, Bristol PA 19007 www.volkmannusa.com Tel 609-265-0101 [email protected]
VOLKMANN GmbH • 59494 Soest, Germany • www.volkmann.info • Tel. +49 2921 96040 • [email protected]