Doing business in corona time

During this Corona period, business as usual often seems impossible, yet, with the help of a good dose of creativity and perseverance from both sides, we managed to serve our customers abroad. Maarten Streppel on difficult deliveries in Switzerland and France.

Delivery to PlaceB, Switzerland

“At the beginning of March we had a wonderful project planned in Zug, Switzerland, but on March 16th everything changed drastically. Within a few days, the world was locked down. Now health is more important than business success, but for us this was quite a challenge. Trailers loaded on Friday were unable to leave on Monday. Fortunately, freight transport was spared and the shipment of 30 units was able to leave later that week (gamble taken). We were very relieved when they finally arrived at the destination.
However, the planned delivery had to be done remotely, because we always want a colleague present at the transfer. With the help of frequent video calling, we escorted PlaceB from Deventer during the loading and construction of the first units.”

Delivery to Carrébox, France

“A lot more difficult still was our project for Carrébox in Creil, northern France. This was not only a delivery, but also a turn-key installation of 50 units. Here the border restrictions were even stricter than between Germany and Switzerland. Through their association of entrepreneurs, our customer has arranged the necessary paperwork to be able to receive the goods. After this we tried to have our construction team stay on site to build the park, but this proved unfeasible.
Through good communication with the customer and solution-oriented action, we were able to recruit local people who could build the park. Hygiene and distance rules were of course respected. Manuals were translated, indispensable tools were collected and eventually, with a few weeks delay, the shipment was able to leave anyway.
Our service team was here ready for a video call with an example container prepared as a reference. Did there turn out to be crucial hooks to lift to be missing… UPS delivered with a lightning-fast delivery. So much for digital versus physical 0-1… In the meantime, this park has also been completed and the first units are in use!”

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