Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1253723
JUNE 2020 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 25 Johnson: That is an obvious disruption to your supply chain, just getting access to materials that were sitting at the carrier's local facility. What were some of the other things that you experienced regarding the supply chain? Where did you have to make contingency plans? Badriyeh: The first few weeks were the tough- est. The most stressful part was having employ- ees feel comfortable to return and feel safe at work. As for management, the reaction was more profound: "How risky is this situation? Am I taking too much risk by allowing people to return to work?" Even with social distanc- ing, the news every day included new alerts about wearing masks and increasing social dis- tancing guidelines. There was also news about how the virus traveled and spread so quickly and easily. I increased the safety by mandat- ing that anyone who is coughing, sneezing, or had a cold or related symptoms could not be in the building. Even with this precaution, it was reported that people could carry it and trans- mit the virus even if they were not showing any symptoms. To satisfy the requirements under social dis- tancing, we allowed all employees who could work from home to continue to work from home for the foreseeable future. We moved some employees from the day shift to swing shift and rearranged some workspaces within the building to accommodate the spacing under social distancing rules. We continue to support the social distancing requirements for everyone at the building. Our work-from-home employees started to rotate back to the build- indicators of the virus. We strictly enforced the use of gloves, masks, frequent handwashing, and social distancing, and we provided alco- hol-based hand sanitizer. We implemented all the precautions before we considered allowing any employees into the building for work. Johnson: You were shut down for about a week as you figured out the whole situation, and then you received certification as an essential business. Badriyeh: Yes, we were advised immediately that military and medical customers were both very essential. In one case, we received a letter from the Department of the Navy, indicating that our support was critical. Over the com- ing weeks, we began to see more customers receiving the designation of "essential busi- ness" as they supported military contractors, medical interests, or were vital to the national infrastructure. These customers were request- ing their products quickly and for an indefinite period. There was a lot of pressure to respond regard- ing our ability to support their requirements and what an eventual recovery to full operation might look like. Working under these circum- stances was indeed very stressful. We required a lot of flexibility, both internally and from our customers. We had to maintain social distanc- ing while working, and we could not bring our full staff back at that time. Additionally, when this event began, and we were shut down for a brief period, we notified our incoming carri- ers to hold shipments until we had direction regarding our return to work. The first indication was that the shelter-in- place order would last until April 7. Based on this timing, we notified our carriers that they could release the shipments they were hold- ing. Unfortunately, and in response to the pan- demic, these carriers had also reduced their workforce. This resulted in a tremendous amount of material being held locally. They were not able to clear this backlog of deliveries for about three weeks after the initial notifica- tion to resume deliveries. I increased the safety by mandating that anyone who is coughing, sneezing, or had a cold or related symptoms could not be in the building.