Current information on dealing with the Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2

Prevention and security measures

Immediately after the outbreak of the Coronavirus in China, Würth Industrie Service developed a multi-stage emergency plan that is adapted and activated according to current developments.

The main objective of the measures taken is to continuously and comprehensively fulfil our obligation towards the health of our employees and the supply of our customers.

Measures to ensure the ability to deliver in our logistics:

In order to be able to maintain the logistics processes in the European central warehouse of Würth Industrie Service in Bad Mergentheim, the logistics processes and the shifts at Würth Industrie Service have been strictly separated since the beginning of March. The reason for this is that in a confirmed case of infection, the smallest possible number of employees are affected by necessary precautions such as domestic quarantine. Affected activities can be taken over directly by the opposite shift or the specially created substitution shift.
To reduce the risk of infection, access to the company premises is limited to a maximum. Only people registered by name, who have previously completed a self-disclosure form, may enter the premises of Würth Industrie Service. Access to logistics buildings is exclusively permitted to logistics employees. Deliveries and outgoing goods are not handled in direct contact with logistics staff, but neutrally at a truck bridge transshipment point. In addition, all logistics areas are disinfected several times a day and employees are required to maintain good hand hygiene and cough and sneeze etiquette.
In order to enable the delivery of goods in the event of a special situation in Bad Mergentheim, a large part of our standard goods were stored at different locations.
In addition, consignments from risk areas that have been in transit for less than 9 days are in a quarantine warehouse for 7 days.

Measures to ensure the ability to deliver regarding our supply sources

As of today, there is still no interruption in the supply chain by our suppliers on a larger scale.
The announcement on Sunday, March 22nd regarding the closure of all Italian production plants in industry sectors of immediate supply relevance for Würth Industrie Service, will also affect us. Our purchasing department will immediately activate alternative sources, which have already been defined for this case, for all articles for which this is possible.
Should bottlenecks of item availability become apparent, we will contact our customers to discuss a joint situation-specific solution.
The import quota of Würth Industrie Service from China and South Korea is in the low single digit percentage range of the total purchasing volume. For Far East goods, we always provide an average stocking of several months. In addition, alternative sources of supply exist for all standard parts from these regions. Should bottlenecks become apparent in customer-specific articles that we purchase from China or South Korea, we will contact our customers to discuss a situation-specific solution.
The transport chains remain stable and we are in close and constant contact with our transport service providers. Border closures and the associated controls lead to delays in deliveries. These are in continuous monitoring by our team in the transport sector.
All potentially affected suppliers are included in close monitoring. Each order and delivery is monitored in direct communication with the suppliers. At the present time, we have no information that would indicate an uncertain supply situation on a broad scale.
Due to the WHO's determination on January 31, 2020 that the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) represents a health emergency with international implications ("Public Health Emergency of International Concern, PHEIC"), the current situation must be classified as a case of force majeure (Force Majeur). We are continuing to monitor the situation very closely and, as far as possible, are in close contact with our business partners in the affected regions in order to initiate further measures within the scope of our possibilities in the event that supply bottlenecks nevertheless become apparent.

Measures for full service in system support

With our automated reordering systems such as RFID-Kanban or automatic dispensers, the notification of demand is guaranteed independent of manual steps. If there are customer restrictions on the access of system administrators, we discuss the alternative approach individually with the customer. A full service support, for example, can be switched directly to a basic support, so that the supply of C-Parts is guaranteed.
Customers who use non-automated systems from Würth Industrie Service that are currently not able to report their requirements as usual by the system administrators can use an app to report their requirements independently at short notice to ensure the supply of C-Parts.

Measures in the administration

Since January 27th, the employees of Würth Industrie Service have been continuously informed about the situation regarding the Ccoronavirus and the related preventive measures. To reduce the employees' risk of infection, extensive travel restrictions for all employees came into force at the end of February. In addition, visits to the site and larger events have been cancelled. Since March 9th, over 90 percent of administrative staff have been working in the home office.

As one of the largest employers in our region, an essential part of our corporate activities is to fulfil our social obligation to the general public. Therefore, we support social and medical institutions as well as public bodies with vital protective equipment such as masks, protective goggles, etc. Many thanks for your understanding if this means that individual orders from our customers may be served with delays!

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