Covid 19 Update

Dear Customers and Partners,

 

I hope you, your families and your employees are all in good health.

 

At the present time, we have had no case of an infected employee with coronavirus within Thomas Warburton.

 

On behalf of all colleagues at Thomas Warburton, I would like to thank you for your loyalty, the largely very longstanding partnership and your trust in us!

 

The past and current months have been a challenging time for all of us, both in private and business terms, a time not seen before in recent history.

 

We continue to keep in close and open contact with you, our Business Partners. Should we be able to help you in any way during this extraordinary time, your contact persons will be available at any time. How long this situation will continue and what the future holds for us I am not able to foretell. But I am sure that together we will emerge from this situation strengthened as partners.

 

Every day we have to re-evaluate the extremely dynamic constellations and quickly make and implement the necessary decisions. In all this, the health of our employees, the contribution to maintaining the functionality of the health care system within the scope of our possibilities and the supply of our customers are the focus of our considerations.

 

However, the main concentration is on the joint fight against the further spread of the coronavirus. We are aware of this responsibility and all colleagues of Thomas Warburton are working towards these goals. What we have already done and continue to do to achieve this and how we assess the current situation and the measuers we have implemented regarding the business, is summarised below.

 

Logistics:

As a core element of our business activity and as a process service provider in C-Parts management, our logistics is a key focus. Therefore, the following measures have already been implemented since March 17th 2020:-

 

The logistical processes were strictly separated. This enables us to provide the smallest possible number of employees for the necessary precautions, such as domestic quarantine, should a confirmed case of infection occur. This means that affected processes can be taken over directly by colleagues of the opposite shift or by other logistics employees.

 

The shifts were separated in time. Between the end of the early shift and the beginning of the late shift, 30 minutes offset was introduced. During this time we do an additional cleaning of surfaces and restrooms, etc.

Access to our premises is limited to a minimum.

 

Access to the logistics buildings is not permitted for non-logistics employees.

 

The supply chains are closely monitored, both for incoming and outgoing shipments. We are in continuous communication with the forwarding companies in order to be able to immediately switch to alternatives in case of possible transport bottlenecks.

 

Full Service of the supply systems:

As a process service provider, we take over the complete C-Parts management for some customers, including the replenishment of the systems. Due to the high penetration of automated reordering systems such as RFID-Kanban or vending machines at our customers, the notification of demand is independent of manual steps and guaranteed in any case. However, due to the current risk situation or individual situations at customers, it is possible that our system administrators may no longer be able to perform this task as usual. This can lead to different scenarios:

 

In the event that customer restrictions exist for the access of our system administrators to the locations, alternative scenarios are discussed and defined with the customers.

 

If full-service support for the systems in our customers’ production facilities is no longer possible due to restrictions on the part of our customers or public institutions, we can immediately switch to basic support, so that the supply of C-parts is still guaranteed.

 

Security of supply with regard to our sources of supply:

At the present time, there is no interruption in the supply chain by our suppliers on a larger scale.

Should bottlenecks of item availability become apparent, we will contact our customers to discuss a joint situation-specific solution.

 

Our approach to disposition is fundamentally geared towards supply security. For this reason, we provide for a corresponding average stock level of several months for articles from Asia.

 

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 Majeure).

 

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.

 

General administration:

All employees have been continuously informed about the situation regarding the coronavirus.

Likewise, information and encouragement has been and continues to be provided on preventive measures such as hand hygiene, coughing and sneezing labels and use of the existing disinfection stations.

 

Since beginning of March 2020, extensive travel restrictions have been in force for all employees.

Visits our sites and major events have not been carried out since beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many thanks for your understanding if this means that individual orders from our customers may be served with delays.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Daniel Schmidt

Managing Director