For the health of all

WITTMANN BATTENFELD USA open for business, providing essential machinery and equipment to molders during COVID-19 crisis

WITTMANN BATTENFELD USA is remaining open for business during the COVID-19 crisis. The company has been deemed an essential business by the State of Connecticut for supplying machinery, equipment and support to numerous medical and packaging molders who are ramping up operations to provide critical supplies to battle the pandemic.

“As of today, we have received 45 ‘Essential Status’ letters from customers who mold products that are critical to saving lives and battling this pandemic”, said David Preusse, President of WITTMANN BATTENFELD Inc. “We are doing all we can to support these customers with our molding machines, robots, auxiliary equipment, spare parts, and customer support.”

WITTMANN BATTENFELD has received ‘Essential Status’ letters from customers across the country, including industry leaders such as BD, Jabil Healthcare, Baxter Healthcare, Eli Lilly, 3M, Nemera, Flex, Cardinal Healthcare, Corning Life Sciences, Technimark, and Comar, to name a few. These customers are making essential plastic parts including:

• Ventilator parts
• COVID-19 diagnostics
• Pharmaceuticals
• Disinfectant wipes
• Laboratory supplies
• Blood testing supplies
• Sterilizations supplies
• Critical fiber optics connectors for telecommunications
• Bottles, caps and closures used in hospitals
• Life sciences for drug discovery and production
• Suction canisters
• Thermometers
• Pipette tips
• Drug delivery devices
• Heart valve replacements
• IV products
• Emergency medical supplies
• Dialyzers

Remote Workforce
Preusse noted that while the company continues operations, WITTMANN BATTENFELD has taken its own measures to prevent the spread of the virus and has directed many of its employees to work from home. “We have about 30 staff on hand at our two plants in Torrington, CT to work on the essential jobs”, he said. “Luckily we took action to be ahead of the curve. We tested our IT systems before we hit the urgent time to shutter all office staff and most manufacturing staff, in a ‘hot state’. We have over 50 staff now working remotely.”

Adjustments have been made to some of the company’s customer services to help ensure molders can continue receiving the support they need. A series of webinars for robot training have been created to temporarily take the place of in-person classes, for example. Also, the company has numerous apps and online support systems available for customers 24/7. “We have regional based service staff available to drive to customer locations when called upon, minimizing air travels. We’re running TeamViewer meetings, web-based service and face time with our customers to help customers keep running and orders are still coming in. Many of these orders are urgent to help the pandemic.”

Preusse noted that he writes ‘All Employee Updates’ every 2 days, to keep the lines of communications open and all employees informed on the latest developments. He also has put in place two weeks pay and paid time off to help staff get through what was originally an Executive Order for all companies to shut down in Connecticut, starting March 20, for 4.5 weeks. “By Sunday March 22, the State changed course and offered all Connecticut manufacturing companies to be exempt and ‘essential’, but we like the idea of keeping a minimal workforce”, said Preusse. “We believe this is the optimum measure to reduce the spread of this pandemic and the terrible overload in our hospitals, which leads to unnecessary deaths. I am proud of how we let each of our employees use their own safety measures or family needs to stay home, or volunteer to work”, he said. “The spirit of those still on board helping essential work orders is uplifting our morale and reminds us that we do play a vital role in fighting this pandemic.”

“Plastics are essential materials for manufacturing items that are essential to battling the COVID-19 crisis”, said Preusse. “The importance of plastics in a time like this cannot be understated, and we are proud to be a part of this industry. It should be noted that the ‘plastics is bad’ mantra that was in the news just weeks ago has become just the opposite now, as the world sees just how much plastics is the essential material used in saving lives.”