We had only just taken on new staff and optimised production sequences. After establishing the start-up in January 2019, we had made a name for ourselves in the market, and sales measures were increasingly taking hold. We had orders … but overnight we found ourselves with no staff. Standstill. The first things we asked ourselves were: How can we protect our massive investments? How can we serve the Chinese market? And what about our planned trade fair participations?
In view of the humanitarian emergency and the human tragedies that the coronavirus then brought in the weeks that followed, with hindsight these considerations were, of course, completely out of place. Because, like everyone else, we had to realise that the coronavirus situation assumed dimensions and a dynamic that was far from anything we could ever have imagined.
Our China manager, Mr. Lars Goldbaum, used the downtime to train his administration staff via video conference in China. When the situation started to ease, video glasses were used to practise directly on the machines. Individual members of staff were trained one at a time, because the health of the team always had to come first.
Now, less than four months later, we are grateful that all our employees are still healthy, safe and sound. The team is doing well – and that is the main thing. We resumed production in mid-March and are again supplying our Chinese partners with our products.
We would like to thank you, our customers in China, and especially you, our colleagues, for staying true to us and for managing this crisis together. One thing that we can take with us from the Chinese market is the assurance that the situation will return to normal. The “When?” is not yet known, the “What comes after?” is definite: a lot of work!
Would you like to know more about our commitment to China? Write to us – we will be pleased to answer your question: info[at]muellerhydraulik.de
