Global crisis: The COVID-19 pandemic also affected sales markets worldwide – shown here, the Franke agency in South Korea.
In March 2020, humanity was in the midst of a global crisis: The SARS-CoV-2 virus was spreading rapidly around the world. Within a matter of weeks, social and economic life as we knew it was reduced to a minimum almost everywhere as the world went into lockdown. Franke reacted quickly and managed to make the best of a bad situation.
Immediately after the outbreak of the pandemic, Franke drew up a three-stage plan: Firstly, emergency plans were implemented at high speed. In the second step, shift models and contact and hygiene regulations were devised and finally, plans were drawn up for dealing with the crisis in the longer term. Two steadfastly implemented measures proved particularly effective: Namely, ensuring a strict separation of shifts in Production and reducing the number of people present in Administration. A real benefit in this unprecedented situation was the healthy working relationship with the works council, who were actively involved in the specially established coronavirus team and supported all measures. And they succeeded in their aim: Even at the height of the pandemic, only a few employees were infected with COVID-19.
Setting aside the undeniable tragedy – if at all possible – and looking at the situation in purely corporate terms, it could be said that Franke was actually in a fortunate position for two key reasons: Firstly, 2019 had been the company’s “Year of Digitalisation”. Within one major transformation process, the entire administration switched over to digital communication. Consequently, it was fully operational from the get-go, even when work-from-home requirements were mandated virtually overnight. Secondly, shortly after the outbreak of the pandemic, we saw an international increase in demand for Franke’s CT ultra-quiet bearings, since CT scanners are essential for X-raying the lungs of COVID-19 patients. More important than the growth Franke saw in its medical technology sector, however, was the fact that its CT bearings made an important contribution in the fight against the pandemic.
Another silver lining is that Franke was able to introduce the measures for decentralised and therefore agile mobile working much faster than would have been possible under normal circumstances. At a time when bitter disputes within society were threatening to cause division, Franke endeavoured to implement the prescribed measures and maintain a fair and balanced relationship between all employees. What’s more, for Managing Director Sascha Eberhard, it is in hindsight even a benefit for the company that the changes could be upheld “without any major policies or ‘battles’, but simply as a natural progression in a post-pandemic world”. //
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