Author: david.mcelroy@barry-wehmiller.com

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At its plant in Corbeil, France, near Paris, Synerlink coordinated efforts among a group of suppliers to fill and overwrap hand sanitizer for a pharmaceutical company. Accraply lent a labelling machine. Others involved include 1Blow, CEO Plastics, United Caps, DS Smith, Sealed Air and Linde. Synerlink customer Schreiber-Foods allowed them to use their Synerlink “Combi-Blow” for this great cause.

The collaborative effort contributed to the packaging of 25,000 liters of thecritically important product. Synerlink will distribute some of the bottles to local healthcare personnel, firemen and other administrative groups.

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As China battled the COVID-19 outbreak, Lincoln Zhang, BW Papersystems Assistant General Manager at the facility in Dongguan, China, stepped up and battled theCOVID-related challenges of theoperations there from mid-February until now, while other leadership team members were in their home countries of Taiwan and Singapore. Eddie Mun, BWP Managing Director Asia, said “Lincoln has enabled our operations to function smoothly and safely; keeping us updated on a daily basis. It’s great to have such an excellent partner!”

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SAICA, a customer of BW Papersystems, is one of the largest European players in the development and production of recycled paper for corrugated cardboard. On May 21st, when France was celebrating a national holiday in honor of theAscension and SAICA’s plant in Poix de Picardie, France was at high production due to demand for increased food and beverage packaging, their corrugator line went down due to a computer issue. BW Papersystems’ Stuttgart team fortunately knew who could handle it: Field Service Engineer Jordi Tomas.

When Jordi got the call, he had theforesight to borrow some available cards from the plant where he was working, then quickly drove seven hours from the south of France to thePoix de Picardie plant, about 2 hours north of Paris. After almost three days of troubleshooting and dealing with aging and intermittent components, including a 30-year old card rack, a failed hard drive, and no backup present onsite, the machine was up and running again and catching up with the backlog.

The very worried customer and BW Papersystems appreciated Jordi’s perseverance. Jordi appreciated theassistance he received from Sigi Mueller-Grabo, Field Service Technical Manager, who reprogrammed the PC remotely late at night from theNetherlands.

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Since early March, a team of Design Group professionals have been navigating COVID-related challenges to “fast track” a capacity expansion project in Union, New Jersey (US) for Mark Anthony Brewing, maker of White Claw Hard Seltzer. The velocity and scale of this project would present significant challenges even under thebest of circumstances but DG’s MAB team and their trusted construction partners have worked together tirelessly to overcome adversity, and keep the construction moving, while never compromising workplace safety.

The multi-office Design Group team onsite at the NJ Mark Anthony facility include Bob Brune (STL), Bhavesh Shah (PHI), Matt Molengraft (SAT), David Grueneberg (HOU), Joe Yagich (IND), Steve Storms (CNC), Mark Hallowell (RDU), Al Polanco (NYC), Rita Palmer (NYC), Roger McClure (CNC), Julia Lu (PHI), Frank Conti (PHL), Steve Chapman (PHL), and Jen Baquial (NYC).

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When finance leader Water Chen departed the organization in April, Grace Chen, a member of BW-Papersystems Supply Chain team, switched gears and temporarily took on leadership of the finance team in BWP Dongguan and BWP Taiwan. With assistance from Daniel Walk and Bill Stabler, they were able to stabilize and enhance their finance reporting for the companies. Eddie Mun, BWP-Asia Managing Director, expressed thanks for Grace’s tremendous contribution during this difficult period. For Grace, the role helped her to “better understand the business of K&H and the standpoint of each departments and build relationships with the teams, which will benefit my supply chain work in the future. I greatly appreciate this opportunity and the great support I received from my leaders, which helped me gain knowledge and use my accounting degree and realize the potential I have.”

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With 60% of its UK-based team on “lockdown” and working from home, Accraply’s two factory teams continue to build and ship equipment, and as needed, its field service team continues to support their customers. Recently, Field Service Engineer Gavin Biriny was singled out by a pharmaceutical customer supplying product for UK’s National Health Service for being “a pleasure to work with” and for his above-and-beyond efforts to install, commission and enable the rapid qualification of a high-end pharmaceutical labeler. This also included training a team of nine operators and maintenance personnel. Gavin was supported by his leader, Carlton Moseley, and by a full team of factory-based colleagues who executed with equal dedication to fulfill the customer’s critical need.

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During this COVID-19 crisis, some essential manufacturers trying to meet increased demand for their products are doing so by bringing older machines back to life. Often, they’re turning to PCMC for help.

“We have customers who are starting up machines that have not run for maybe a year or two,” said Jim Ferron, PCMC-Green Bay Audit Leader. “Themachines are running, but many are not reaching full production capabilities.”

With COVID-19 causing companies to prohibit non-employees from entering their facilities, PCMC’s Accelerate Live technology enables PCMC to lead machine improvements without ever stepping foot in the door. Through a tablet and mobile app, PCMC’s Accelerate Live acts as the eyes and ears for a virtual machine audit, allowing PCMC technicians and aftermarket experts to conduct an inspection of the machine.

“The technology provides an incredibly valuable option right now,” said Ferron. “A virtual audit allows us to see exactly what the customer sees. We can ask someone onsite to turn over specific parts and ask them questions about what they are seeing, feeling and hearing. This gives us a much closer connection to the customer and helps us quickly develop a plan for bringing the machine back to its original as-shipped condition.”

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During the COVID-19 crisis, Brad Rogers, a Process Engineer for Design Group in Modesto, California (US), has continuously supported a global supplier of soft drinks to ensure that water treatment and can production started earlier than planned to meet the market demand for water.

He successfully navigated a difficult and continuously changing environment to ensure production systems were fully supported to come up from a complete plant shutdown to meet quality standards for the product.

Meanwhile, Zach Vernon, Project Manager for Design Group’s Indianapolis office, oversaw the installation of two large tanks at the Indianapolis plant of a global soft drink supplier. The tanks were installed via crane after the plant’s roof was removed. Thanks to his diligent preparation and seamless coordination with multiple vendors, contractors and the client, the work was completed in a single day without impacting production.