Last updated: 19th March 2020
Like you, our organization is closely following recommendations of global health organizations as well as the Government to ensure that our response to the Coronavirus outbreak is appropriate.
It goes without saying that our main priority is protecting the health of our employees and their families, as well as our customers and partners. At the same time, we know you rely on us to help keep your business moving forward. Be assured that we have plans in place to continue to achieve both these goals. Transparency is important to us in how we communicate with both our customers and partners. Following the Government’s statement on essential travel and limiting the spread of the coronavirus we would like to inform you as to how we are handling the current situation.
We are open for business
We want you to know we are open for business but are adapting our approach in a few ways in consideration of what is happening in our communities:
- Following the Government’s recommendations, the majority of our field based teams will now start to work remotely, although we will still be available for in-office or on-the-job visits where essential and where the situation permits. For customers who have started limiting outside visitors to your facilities, our sales and technical teams are ready to support you remotely and digitally.
- Hilti Stores are fully stocked and will remain open for your call. We ask our customers to phone in advance to arrange product pick up in order to limit person-to-person contact.
- Our Tool Service Centre remains open for service, repair and calibration and our teams there have every intention to uphold our repair time promise wherever possible.
- Our Distribution Centre is critical to getting our customers the products they need – when and where they need them. We are open but ask you give us a phone call in advance to arrange product pick up in support of social distancing.
- Our Customer Service teams remain available to support you at 1850 287 387 while our website www.hilti.ie is available around the clock.
Supply chain and deliveries
We do not anticipate any impact/significant impact on supply and/or delivery timelines in the short-mid term.
- Our supply teams are in task force mode and are monitoring our supply chain on a permanent basis
- All of our manufacturing facilities in China have resumed operations. The capacity situation is developing as planned and similar situations have been observed with our suppliers in China
- Moreover, the Hilti GB warehouse already carries extra stock due to the steps we took to prepare for potential supply delays resulting from Brexit.
Supply of all Hilti products is therefore ensured for a certain period of time and Hilti is investigating the potential long-term impact of the current situation, and is taking mitigating actions to avoid future disruptions to our customers globally.
Health and preventative measures
- To protect the health of our employees and their families, as well as our customers and partners, we have issued preventive hygienic guidelines and taken precautionary measures at all our locations. All the measures we have taken follow the recommendations and guidelines of the Government and health authorities
- We have established crisis management teams at the global level and in the regions / countries affected by the coronavirus. This has prepared us well and given us the ability to quickly implement proactive measures and to rapidly react to new developments.
- We have contingency plans in place for our sites to assure continuity of supply and service delivery.
Travel ban/restrictions
As a Global organization, we are used to travelling between our operations globally and we have taken steps to limit such travel in view of the threat of spreading the Coronavirus.
- A travel ban is currently in place for travel to and from all countries and regions that have been declared to be high risk areas by public health authorities
- Travel restrictions are in place elsewhere and any travelling employees are subject to a 14-day preventive quarantine after their return.
- We have instructed all our worldwide employees to limit business travel to an absolute critical minimum and to avoid any larger meetings
- To avoid unnecessary travel and health risks, we strongly encourage our employees to work from home wherever possible.
At Hilti we take the situation seriously and will continue to monitor any further spread of the virus. While none of us may know what the future holds, we want to assure you we are here to support you and have contingency plans in place to enable the continuity of supply and service delivery with the goal of being there for you, our customers, while helping ensure the well-being of our team members.
John R. Greer, III
General Manager, Hilti Ireland
17.03.2020
