Welcome back, China! Production resumed in all plants

Shanghai, May 5, 2020. After production stops due to the coronavirus, BENETLER has successfully restarted all sites in China. A comprehensive package of measures ensures the safety of the Chinese colleagues.

BENTELER is represented in China since 2002 and currently operates 15 production sites with around 2,600 employees. When the Chinese government officially announced the corona virus on January 20, many of the Chinese employees were on their way home to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The colleagues from the Wuhan site never expected to return to their plant only 55 days later. On January 23, Wuhan, a city of 11 million people, was sealed off.

The BENTELER team in China reacted immediately and developed a preventive plan against the infection. All employees were informed of this during the Chinese New Year celebrations. At the same time, the company was already working on comprehensive plans for resuming production. It immediately ordered mouth-nose-protection masks and disinfectants: 166,000 masks and disinfectants were already distributed for daily use to the Chinese colleagues.

As a result, BENTELER was able to resume production in its Chinese plants step by step as early as February 10. On March 16, all fifteen plants in China had already restarted production, including the site in Wuhan. In April, the average production capacity was already back above 80%. BENTELER strictly complies with governmental regulations and its own comprehensive safety principles to ensure the health of all employees. To date, no member of our Chinese team has fallen ill with the coronavirus.

"It's good to be back at the plant and to see all colleagues again. Despite all the challenges, we stick together as a team. We are all happy that the restart of our production has gone so quickly and so well," says Weitao Wu, who works in our plant in Jiading.

Weitao Wu and his Chinese colleagues had to adjust to many changes in the last few weeks. From temporary production stops and working from the home office to now restarting production. The safety principles that apply to the ramp-up of our plants also require changes in behavior in everyday work: such as wearing mouth-nose-protection masks, regular monitoring of body temperature and discipline in maintaining the necessary distance from colleagues.

Tony Shi, EVP BENTELER Asia/Pacific: "My thanks go to all our colleagues for their contribution over the past weeks. I am grateful that we have resumed our work in these challenging times. It is important that we continue to follow our safety principles. Because health is our number one priority.”

BENTELER now uses the successful measures for the restart of its Chinese plants as a basis for its global production ramp-up. Our thanks go to our Chinese colleagues for sharing their learnings and experiences with us.

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