Austria starting to return to life as machinery manufacturers rewaken

Now that Austria has started to relax its nationwide lockdown measures, plastics machinery manufacturer Engel has reopened its machinery plants in Schwertberg and Valentin, and the robot factory in Dietach.

The company closed down all production at the sites 21 March in connection with the outbreak of COVID-19. At that time, the number of new infections in the regions in the vicinity of the plants was rising strongly. Closing the factories enabled Engel to ‘actively contribute to slowing down the further spread of the virus’, the company said in a statement.

Operations resumed immediately after Easter, albeit with close observance of the behavioural guidelines put in place by management and the Engel health team. Based on the recommendations and regulations of the authorities, they set down procedures and practices to safeguard the health of all employees in the various areas at work. The guidelines include modified working hours and staggered rest and lunch breaks.

Seating arrangements in office areas ensure a minimum distance of 1.5 metres to other people is maintained. The company has issued protective masks to its employees. It has also has shortened cleaning intervals and regularly disinfects frequently used facilities and equipment. Yet for the time being, many employees are still working from home. Also, no plant visits or factory acceptance tests (FATs) are currently allowed to be scheduled.

As of 20 April, the Wittmann Group is for the most part back in business.Here, too, however, staff is working wherever possible from home and no site visits are yet permitted.

In a statement, the company noted that the production plants in Hungary and China were operating normally, as were the Group’s three production plants in Vienna and Wolkersdorf. Production at the Kottingbrunn, Lower Austria facility, which had been temporarily closed down, resumed today.

Production operations at the La Buisse, France site partially reopened on April 9, while all other activities - the service hotline, spare parts delivery and technical consultations – are all available as usual.

As Wittmann Battenfeld was deemed an essential business by the State of Connecticut for supplying machinery, equipment and support to numerous medical and packaging moulders, operations at the Torrington, Connecticut site are continuing with a voluntary staff of some 30 employees coming in to support production for essential customer needs. All other staff is working from home.

Germany’s KraussMaffei also ended its COVID-related closures on April 20 and says it is resuming work in compliance with strict hygiene measures.

Employees will be given face masks and required to maintain a minimum distance of 2 meters, or about 6 feet, from each other.

Munich-based KM noted that production, assembly and delivery was delayed during the shutdown, and it expects there will be some delays in delivering machines. The company noted it has stock machines available for immediate use in medical applications, if needed.