Mansfield, 27th April 2020
Dear Valued Customer
Reference is made to our previous communication to you dated April 6th 2020. We highly value our relationship with each and every one of you, and therefore want to take this opportunity to be very transparent about the impact of COVID-19 on our operations, and what we are currently doing in our efforts to continue or resume operating as quickly as possible, whilst taking all reasonable precautions to attempt to ensure the health and safety of our employees.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a force majeure event that is due to causes beyond the control of Glenair and was not caused by Glenair’s fault or negligence. Currently, the impact of this force majeure event on our operations is as follows:
As per our April 6th 2020 communication Glenairs manufacturing locations in Mansfield, UK and Glendale, California temporarily ceased production operations beginning 6th April 2020 and 3rd April 2020 respectively;
- Both locations have been working tirelessly to implement robust safety protocols in advance of the scheduled May 4th re-opening. It will take some time before “normal” operations resume due to logistics and implementation of new procedures relative to hygiene, social distancing and work routine protocols.
- For Glenair products manufactured in these facilities, the estimated impact of this force majeure delay on your deliveries scheduled for calendar year 2020 will be a minimum of 4 weeks. For orders scheduled for delivery beyond 2020 we are anticipating minimal impact.
- We will continue to keep you updated on the re-opening of these facilities.
With regards to our Glenair Italia S.P.A. (Bologna) facility, as per their communication of March 25th 2020, in accordance with Italian government guidelines manufacturing capacity/efficiency was reduced by 20%, and continues to operate at this level today. It is anticipated that operations will return to full capacity/efficiency on or around May 4th 2020, unless otherwise required by governmental directives.
In addition to impacting our employee base and operations, this force majeure event has also impacted our supplier base. A number of component suppliers have declared force majeure events resulting from COVID-19, which will materially impact the delivery dates for products which incorporate those components. Fortunately, Glenair regularly stocks 6 months of raw materials to mitigate the effects of unforeseen circumstance such as these. Consequently, there are many product lines which are not impacted by supplier delays.
We are sincerely appreciative of your patience and understanding of the impact this unprecedented event has had on our employees and their families. As always, your sales representative is available to attempt to answer any questions and address any concerns you may have while we continue on the path of resuming our production and delivery of your orders.
Yours faithfully,
Tony Birks
Managing Director
Glenair UK Ltd