In an email to customers on April 13, Sergio Castillejos, Vice President, General Manager, Heatcraft Worldwide Refrigeration said the company had confirmed its first positive case of COVID-19 at its Stone Mountain, Georgia (U.S.) manufacturing facility over the previous weekend.
As a result, the Stone Mountain factory has been be shut down for a week for sanitization and “all affected employees are being quarantined,” said Castillejos.
“We are contacting impacted customers about any potential delays to their shipments,” he added.
Heatcraft’s facility in Tifton, Georgia, and all of its distribution centers are still open and operating. Those buildings are employing a number of safety measures, including temperature checks on employees before they enter the premises, hand sanitizers, elimination of all non-essential travel, and remote work assignments.
Regarding production scheduling, Castillejos said Heatcraft is “pivoting as needed,” adding that the company has high levels of stock. But he advised customers to “plan any upcoming projects, stocking orders and desired ship dates five to six weeks ahead of time so we can ensure that your operations are not disrupted.”
To help its customers, Heatcraft has created a COVID-19 Hubat https://hub.heatcraftrpd.com/to provide information about a new U.S.program under the Small Business Administration (SBA) that will offer payroll-protection loans for qualifying organizations with fewer than 500 employees.
Heatcraft has also participated in projects providing a COVID-19 testing facility, pharma storage facilities and temporary mobile storage units.
All affected employees are being quarantined.
Sergio Castillejos, Heatcraft Worldwide Refrigeration
