Update 25 February 2021
W&S Plastics Sydney, Australia
Most states of Australia have eradicated Covid 19.
Our Sydney plant is in NSW where, at the time of writing, there has been no new cases of community transmission for 38 days.
We are expecting that most of the remaining restrictions will be lifted in the next few days and the people of NSW will resume a lifestyle very close to what it was before Covid.
W&S Plastics Kulai, Malaysia
After new cases started trending upwards alarmingly in January, the Malaysian Government implemented strict controls the results of which are obvious in the chart below.
Source; worldometer.com.au
Our plant is located in an area effected by Covid 19. Many neighboring businesses have had the virus spread through their workforce resulting is staff shortages, production disruptions and in some cases, shut downs.
Close personal contacts of some of our team have tested positive to Covid 19 and yet our business has remained completely unaffected.
Click here to read how our team has managed such a remarkable result.
Update 26 October 2020
W&S Australia
At the time of writing this article, the governments of Australia have the management of the spread of Covid 19 under control with the 14 day average at 18.7 and falling. The majority of cases are returned travelers who are quarantined in isolation. This is a result that most countries around the world can only dream of.
In the state of NSW, where our factory is located, life is almost back to normal. People are encouraged to maintain social distancing, keep up good hand hygiene and limit the number of people at gatherings.
Almost all businesses are operating although some still encourage employees to work from home.
The gradual lifting of tight controls on our community means that life is slowly evolving into a new ‘normal’.
Source worldometers.info/coronavirus
W&S Malaysia
Malaysia continues to fare better than most other nations however, they are experiencing another wave of new infections as can be seen in the chart below.
The strict lockdowns and other controls that they have employed in the past have been very effective and it is expected that the current spike will be contained quickly.
Fortunately, there have been few cases identified in the State of Johor, where our factory is located, with most being in the Northern States of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.
Recent lockdowns have been localized to the areas of concern and have not affected our plant.
Source worldometers.info/coronavirus
Update 28 April
W&S Plastics Malaysia
The Malaysian Government has imposed a movement of restriction order which has effectively closed many manufacturing business. Being a supplier of medical device components, W&S Malaysia received an exemption from the order and has been operating throughout the lockdown.
The number of active cases are declining which indicates that the restrictions are working and we can expect to see some relaxing of them in the near future.
Sydney Plant
Neither the Australian Government or the NSW State Government, have applied restrictions to Australian manufacturing businesses so it has been business as usual for W&S Australia.
The number of active cases are dropping which indicates that the spread is being controlled. The NSW Government has announced that restrictions will be relaxed from 1 May.
W&S Contributes to the fight against Covid 19
Our Sydney team has been busy developing new products to assist our healthcare professionals in their fight against Covid 19.
We have launched a range of two eye shields and a face shield with more products to come.
More details about these products can be found at eyeprotectionaustralia.com.au
Update 13 March 2020
With the Covid 19 situation escalating we are not being complacent.
Our IT guys have been busy ensuring that key people have safe and secure remote access to our systems in case they need to work from home.
We have confirmed supply of materials on order and are working to trace point of origin of all materials so that we accurately assess the risk of supply shortages in the medium and long term.
Our Kulai, Malaysia plant continues their screening of every person that enters the site and our Sydney, Australia team is prepared to do the same when the situation requires it.
We have implemented a policy of no face-to-face meetings with customers, suppliers or contractors unless absolutely essential.
Video conferencing is being used to facilitate meetings in almost all situations.
A few of our customers have increased their order quantities, presumably to build their safety stock levels, and in every instance we have been able to meet their requirements.
We can’t foresee what is to come but we continue to plan for the worst and hope for the best.
Update 25 February 2020
Recognizing that the Covid 19 epidemic is spreading in the affected regions, W&S remains vigilant.
We are monitoring local and international health advisory notices.
After an exhaustive risk analysis process, we have implemented tight controls in our Malaysian plant. The following is a video of the implementation of these controls.
The spread of the virus in China is a cause for concern and as such we are stepping up our monitoring of the few Chinese suppliers that we have. We aim to capture any potential disruptions to supply early and will communicate them to our customers well in advance of any affect to provide time to implement mitigation strategies.
Update 10 February 2020
Both W&S Malaysia and W&S Australia remain unaffected by the Coronavirus.
None of our employees or their families have reported being unwell and there is no spread of the virus within local communities.
Our company wide travel ban remains in place and will do so until the treat recedes.
We remain in close contact with our suppliers and there appears to be no threat to our supply chain.
Any risk to supply, whether from one of our own plants or from our supply chain will be communicated to customers immediately.
Update 31 January 2020
The situation regarding the Coronavirus is changing daily and as such our Senior Management Team is monitoring the situation.
To date we have no indication of any issues with borders, customs or transport.
We are monitoring and will advise if anything of concern should arise.
We have banned all international business travel without the permission of our MD.
All staff on our Australian and Malaysian sites have been interviewed to determine if they, or any of their household, have visited China or Hong Kong. None were found to have done so.
Any employee that applies for leave will be interviewed to determine if they intend to travel to China or Hong Kong and if so, they will not be allowed to attend work for 21 days after they return unless they have a medical certificate to clear them.
We are asking all employees to report any flu-like symptoms and stay away from work. We are taking this one step further by extending this to members of employee’s household or other people that they come into close contact with.
The employees and, or, their associate must be cleared by a doctor before the employee can return to work with a medical certificate.
As the virus spreads, our operations team is monitoring effected regions and will keep close contact with any suppliers there so that we can maintain a dynamic risk assessment.
Any risk to supply, whether from one of our own plants or from our supply chain will be communicated to customers immediately.
Please access this page for updates.