The Tadano Group is temporarily halting production at its Lauf and Zweibrücken sites in Germany, instituting a company wide holiday during the last week in March.
“The safety of our employees, customers and business partners is a top priority in Tadano’s company philosophy,” said CEO Jens Ennen in a prepared statement. “In view of the current situation in which Covid-19 is uncontrollable, we must protect people’s health and hence the health of society as a whole and prioritize this above all else.
“That will help us get production and support going again quickly with full staffing levels after the crisis, so that we will be able to catch up rapidly on the backlog,” he said.
Starting April 1, the company will introduce “short-time working for large parts of its sites...,” it said in a statement.
The temporary stoppage of production is partly a result of supply stoppages, the company said, “because the international situation is increasingly leading to necessary deliveries failing to arrive.”
Although many employees are working at home in order to maintain necessary business operations, Tadano said business trips, training, and face-to-face meetings of all kinds are suspended until further notice to protect the health of employees and customers.
Service and spare parts will continue to be supplies “as far as possible,” the company said, and cited cross-border restrictions on deliveries and service operations.
“No one can yet foresee how the situation will develop and when we can return to normal operations,” Ennen said. “However, we are preparing ourselves to be fully available for our customers and ramp up production quickly, as soon as the situation changes.”
Ennen said the integration of Demag into the Tadano Group continues.
Source: Tadano Group