SMB Bearings COVID-19 Measures

 

Chris Johnson, Managing Director at SMB Bearings explaines the preventive measures that they have implemented in the company to ensure business continuity during pandemic period.

Please tell us about the initiatives taken by your company for business continuity while ensuring employees well-being during these challenging times?

SMB have a skeleton sales team, warehouse team and relubrication team. Many staff are working remotely but we continue to offer our usual levels of service. We are shipping sales orders on time, every day while the remote sales staff and accounts staff do their jobs from the safety of home.

The few staff who come to work can easily stay 2 meters apart. Goods for collection are left in the entrance to the warehouse so there is no contact with drivers. The same happens with deliveries. We have plenty of hand-washing facilities and hand sanitizer at every workstation. We clean all door handles, bannisters and work surfaces with sterilising spray every morning and evening. Telephones and keyboards are cleaned weekly but never shared. No visitors are allowed without prior permission and they must keep 2 metres away from any staff. Any surfaces they touch are cleaned with sanitising spray.

What steps have you taken to ensure Work from Home? How are you ensuring collaboration amongst internal teams?

All remote staff have laptops with a separate keyboard/mouse for easier working. We have a very fast internet connection so speeds are not a problem. They communicate with the office and with each other via our main sales email address but can also communicate by telephone if needed. The system is working well.

What initiatives have you taken for smooth customer experience?

Fortunately, our inventory levels are high, so we are able to supply most customers from stock. Deliveries to customers have not been badly affected. When we quote, we advise customers that deliveries may be delayed in their local area. Many customers are using couriers instead of the post for smaller packages. Most of our customers are not experiencing delays but there are some problem areas in the UK and other countries where levels of delivery staff have been reduced by illness or lockdown. Often, the illness is not COVID-19 but anyone feeling unwell is sensibly staying at home for at least a week so if a common cold spreads around a delivery company’s depot, deliveries can be badly affected.

We continue to receive deliveries from our suppliers but in some cases, small air shipments from the Far East have been delayed due to lack of air-freight capacity. We notice that air-freight rates have increased from Japan by more than 100%. Courier rates have also increased and most couriers have imposed weight limits on express shipments so we may have to split one shipment into two or more sending’s. We continue to import a lot of stock by air. Sea-freight does not seem to have been affected. Our general stock levels are fine but we are ordering earlier from suppliers in case of shipment delays.

What would you define as key lessons from this crisis?

We have learned that a number of things can really help to get through a disruptive situation like this. A good inventory is important for dealing with any delays from suppliers. A good cash-flow allows us to cope with any late customer payments and also helps to finance increased stock levels to protect against supply disruption. We will also continue to make sure our staff have all the necessary equipment to work from home in case this type of situation occurs again.

In your view, what will be the impact of the pandemic on the overall business scenario and especially on your segment? What is your strategy to tackle the economic slowdown?

It is difficult to guess how this will affect the bearing industry. We can imagine demand falling due to a worldwide recession (or even depression). Manufacturing has been affected in many countries as consumer demand is reduced and many business will be forced to close. After lockdowns in most countries are lifted, there may be an increase in business due to pent up demand but this should settle down and it could then take a few years to return to 2019 levels. We can only guess. We may need to adapt to lower levels of business so we are continuing to become more efficient and reduce unnecessary costs. We will continue to re-invest in the business to make sure our inventory continues to meet our customers’ needs.

Contact:
SMB Bearings Ltd,
Unit 15 Ventura Business Park, Broadshires Way
Carterton, Oxfordshire, OX18 1AD, United Kingdom.
Tel: +44 (0)1993 842555
email: [email protected]

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