Milan, Italy – This town is the centre of two global phenomenon, it is currently centre stage in the Italian coronavirus outbreak. It is a key city in the Italian region of Lombardy, which is subject to Italian government restrictions.
The second phenomenon, known widely in the polyurethane industry, is that Milan lies at the heart of one of the most innovative centres of polyurethane machinery manufacturing.
Romano: Community comes first
Bruno Fierro, corporate director marketing & communication at Cannon said: his company is 'applying all the recommendations suggested by our Government but we have no important delays or negative impacts on production.'
Marta Romano, marketing executive, at Ekosystem added: 'Lombardy has been affected by coronavirus but at the moment there is no repercussion on our activities.'
Both companies said that 2020 had started well, before the advent of the virus. Romano said: '2020 started very well for us and we are very busy here. While coronavirus was spreading in China with huge and dramatic consequences, we were producing four different machines for the Chinese market. They all were shipped, and they are all now at the Customers’ site.'
Fierro added that like other manufacturing sectors, Cannon is concerned about the supply of components and materials from China. 'We are trying to control our supply chain and it has delivered the materials and parts for our production plants that we need up to now. We cannot exclude the possibility that we will suffer some problems in the future but, I repeat, up to now the situation is under control.'
Ekosystem's Romano said her company 'only uses European components but we hope there will be no delays in supply. We have a very busy pipeline up to December. But the situation is affecting the international supply chain.'
The lock-down is a strong response but does not seem as thorough as the Chinese response. In China only very limited social contact were allowed and people in affected regions were highly isolated.
Fierro explains. 'Although, our government decided on a strong intervention to limit the contagion, the constraints we live under allow workers to reach working sites. It also allows the delivery of goods, without limitation. Companies have the continuity to do their job.'
Romano added: 'The sense of community must prevail over personal interest. With this in mind, we wish that our competitors and partners located in the North of Italy can continue working without any problem, and without any serious repercussions on their work and personal life.'
