Foil & Specialty Effects Association
In early April, the FSEA asked its Active and Supplier Members to respond to a short four-question survey about the impacts of COVID-19. These answers have been scrubbed of identifying information. A second survey will be sent in early June, and results will be posted at www.fsea.com.
How has COVID-19 affected your business so far?
- Yes, sales were off to a great start in 2020 and have now halted. We did have one sale in New York City but we are simply unable to ship and install the press given the restrictions in place. We are now helping this customer send work out to customers that have capacity. (supplier member)
- Our state issued a Stay at Home order on March 21. We have been shut down since as we are considered non-essential.
- We are seeing a slowdown in the number of quotes and have had jobs slated for April canceled.
- We are facing difficulties on transportation with overseas companies. (international active member)
- In relation to Covid-19, I can report that we had worked very hard for nearly five years to develop a product, but the main launch was due to take place in May this year with simultaneous launches at trade shows in New York, Paris and Dubai. Needless to say, these plans have been shredded by the virus, as have hopes for a revenue stream to compensate for our investment.
- There has been a dramatic drop off of quote requests, orders in process have been halted/placed on hold or even cancelled.
- Our number one goal is to keep our people and families safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our company is lucky in that we serve a very diverse market. Therefore some areas are seeing a pretty drastic down shift in demand while others in the essential or critical supply chain have offset this with increased demand. We see in the long term that overall we will see a steady drop in business until the economy recovers. (supplier member)
- Yes, in some cases buying decisions being delayed. In others, it is speeding up the need for equipment, thus buying decisions are moving quickly. Packaging (especially food and pharma) are busy, while trade and commercial print business is much slower. (supplier member)
What changes have you made in your facility to keep people as safe as possible?
- All of our team are working from home, our R&D lab is closed. (supplier member)
- We already had sanitizer dispensers up and janitorial services cleaning every night. During the shutdown, we are having the cleaning service continue and go into a rotating area of operations each night to wipe down.
- Detailed steps include:
- All employees have been supplied with a thermometer which they are to use daily. Anyone with a temperature over 100.4 must stay home until they are without a fever or any symptoms for 3 days.
- Anyone showing up for work sick will be sent home.
- Before beginning each day, employees must punch in and then wash their hands.
- Posters on best practices of hygiene have been placed within the building.
- Personnel on each shift have been assigned duties of cleaning and disinfecting common areas and items after breaks and lunch.
- Each work station has been provided with sanitizer for and personnel must wipe down their work areas and equipment at the beginning of the shift and when changing work stations.
- Lunch times have been staged to allow for social distancing.
- Meetings must be held in areas that have enough room for social distancing.
- We are having meetings with personnel to explain the new Government Covid-19 Families First Coronavirus Response Act and our policies and procedures to comply with the Act along with handouts for Frequently Asked Questions.
- Using antifungal alcohol when enter into the office. Wearing a mask in the office and during a commute. Time difference commuting is available. Considering about work from home system.
- Only allowing employees, suppliers for a specific reason in the building. Delivery/pick up people stay outside of the building.
- We have limited our administrative staffing to limit contact to our production and quality management. We have implemented WHO and CDC best practices for distancing and hygiene. We have propped open non-essential doorways to limit touchpoints and provided training on proper hand washing protocols. One of our key manufacturing raw materials is Isopropyl Alcohol, so we have manufactured our own water and IPA solution to provide spray bottles for wiping down work areas at a minimum of twice per day. All meetings have been administered virtually since March 13th. (supplier member)
- Working remotely – reduced travel (supplier member)
What financial corrections have you made in the last month? (Examples: changes to your spending budget/planning to file for Federal or state assistance)
- Limiting press orders placed as inventory, shift to an order per sale, which unfortunately means longer delivery times. (supplier member)
- We decreased recurring expenses that were discretionary and will be following the assistance packages carefully to determine if any are applicable.
- None at this time but we are planning to apply for the CARE ACT loans.
- Nothing.
- Only necessary items being purchased to produce a job, such as foil, dies, paper etc., or to supply the shop to keep it running, broken part, bathroom supplies etc.
- We have been in discussion with our suppliers to mitigate inventory in areas where demand has softened and guaranteed supply where it has increased. We are monitoring daily our staff needs and making adjustments as needed. We need better information from our downstream customer base on expectations for supply so that we can enact the proper resources where needed. We are not planning to file for assistance since we are still operational as an Essential business. (supplier member)
- Less travel, thus less spending. Unaware of the other changes. (supplier member)
Has COVID-19 had any effect on your supply chain?
- Some components have been delayed but no significant problems so far.
- Yes. Some of our suppliers are in the shutdown as well.
- Only in the area of cleaning supplies so far.
- Effect on delivery schedule of products.
- Yes, suppliers are slower as they have fewer employees, or the employees need to check with their shops for information and confirmation.
- The situation changes daily but as of now we are not interrupted. We have seen less reliability in shipping and logistics of incoming raw material and our finished goods. This is causing some unexpected delays in both situations. We are managing this with effective communication throughout the supply chain. (supplier member)
- Yes, deliveries have been delayed slightly, thus ordering sooner vs. later. (supplier member)
