Every country and company have had its own approach dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. In China, Volvo CE has worked hard to support not only customers and employees – but the society as a whole.
In early February, a dealer in Cambodia reported that an EC350D excavator on the construction site of a project within the Belt and Road Initiative had failed. They are currently utilizing around 50 Volvo CE machines.
“The excavator emitted black smoke and the engine alarm could not be turned off, so the dealer sought technical support from us at the Volvo CE China Aftermarket Department,” says Yadong Wang, VP Aftermarket Management.
Normally, solving excavator issues would be nothing out of the ordinary, but in the midst of the global covid-19 pandemic, the challenges were a bit different. Adding to the extraordinary circumstances, this also took place in during the Chinese New Year holiday. Still, Volvo CE organized an emergency team of technical experts, ready to aid frontline engineers remotely. However, after troubleshooting together with local expertise, the problem remained unsolved.
“After careful consideration, we decided that, based on the promise of ensuring safety of the employees, the after-service department would send an engineer to solve the client’s problems. It turned out to be a successful approach. The excavator issue was fixed within a few days,” says Yadong Wang.
Another
very vivid illustration of the continuous dealer and customer support
comes from nothing less than Wuhan. Customers from this infamous city
had an urgent request for an, now more than ever, important health care
project construction. Volvo CE cooperated with the dealer from Wuhan and
delivered an EC380DL to the dealer of the construction project.
Assistance to customers is just one part of the special support that has
been carried out during the last few months. Providing important aid to
the society is also something that has been prioritized.
In mid-February, the Chinese society was in the midst of fighting both
the pandemic and the financial consequences for a lot of people. Besides
the company donation from Volvo Group, Volvo CE decided to try to
engage its employees in China to raise funds online. The initiative was
started by Volvo Group China. All the contributions were anonymous, and
the result was impressive. During the course of just one week, thousands
of dollars were donated. The contributions were handed over to China
Youth Development Foundation.
“The funds were used to purchase pandemic prevention supplies, and to
support families of infected medical staff, sick relatives, and
financially disadvantaged youth,” says Inge Zhou, VP Corporate
Communication Volvo Group China.
To face the global shortage of medical supplies, Volvo CE also received
masks donations from the local government to support Volvo sites
globally. In addition, Volvo CE Jinan Technology Center, together with
IPS (Volvo CE’s purchasing and supply organization) purchased and sent
masks globally, not only to Volvo sites, but to medical centers with a
high demand for medical supplies.
Like for so many other workers across the world, the Volvo CE factories
and offices were partly shut down during the most intense period of the
pandemic. When re-opening the premises in China, the employees quickly
contributed to a continuous safe working environment. Co-workers
volunteered in assisting in things like temperature monitoring, regular
inspections of facilities and promoting knowledge about the virus.
Besides the important volunteering, Volvo CE had its emergency team up
and running promptly when the virus and the pandemic turned out to be a
fact. Small, but very important things like how to wear a mask properly
was highlighted. Information about rules in all offices and factories
were sent out in different channels, like in WeChat, emails and via
Skype. Also, office and factory management decided to offer the
opportunity to work from home for those who wanted and had the
possibility to do so.
“All in all, we believe in persisting in keeping everybody; customers,
dealers, and employees safe. As for the society as a whole, we want to
contribute with the means we can. Hopefully we can look back at this
period soon, and rest assure in the fact that we all did our absolute
best,” says David Chen, VP Volvo CE Region China Sales.
During spring, Volvo CE employees around the world have helped producing important personal protective equipment (PPE) in order to fight the corona virus.
The covid-19 pandemic sees no national borders. Luiz Vieira works at Volvo CE in Brazil and quickly decided that he wanted to lend a helping hand in both Brazil and Mozambique.
Volvo CE dealer Redhead Equipment supports Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing emergency services throughout Western Canada.