PROTECT AND SERVE
Since the start of lockdown British OEM JCB has kept busier than most. The company
received a direct appeal from Prime Minister Boris Johnson in March to help plug the
national ventilator shortage. In response it swiftly produced a ventilator-housing prototype.
In April JCB answered a call from the University Hospitals of North Midlands for
donations of vital supplies of personal protective equipment during the current coronavirus
crisis. More than 8,000 pairs of gloves and a large quantity of facemasks were donated to
the hospital by the JCB World Parts Centre at Uttoxeter, which continues to provide
service, technical and spare parts back-up to customers – including farmers maintaining
the food supply chain, contractors providing JCB generators to NHS hospitals and hirers
keeping crucial utility services intact.
Also in April the company launched an international aid initiative in the communities
around its factories to help people in need of food as a result of disruption caused by the
pandemic. The company’s catering staff in the UK and India prepared meals for distribution
in the towns and villages located close to its plants. The initiative was the idea of Lady
Bamford, wife of JCB chairman Lord Bamford.
In May JCB reopened its Innovation Centre at the World HQ in Rocester so tooling and
moulding engineers could design and manufacture medical grade visors for NHS staff on
the company’s 3D rapid prototype machines. JCB senior design engineer Steve Hawkes
(left) is also a member of an organisation called Visor Bikes, a group made up of
volunteers, who use motorcycles to deliver visors to front line NHS workers. “I feel very
proud to play a small part in getting vital PPE to NHS staff,” he says.
extra protection, and the introduction
of thermal imaging cameras at UK
plants by the end of May.
“Production has resumed at a very
low level, mainly to satisfy demand for
agricultural machinery,” says JCB
CEO, Graeme Macdonald. “Ahead of
this re-start, an exhaustive review was
undertaken to enable us to introduce
wide-ranging measures that will best
protect our employees. e actions we
have taken ensure that safe distancing
between employees on-site can be
achieved at all times.”
The coming months
Anxiety remains about machines and
components being blocked at borders,
and the ripple e ect this could cause.
Both Bandry and Viaggi are calling on
the European Commission to
postpone Stage V engine deadlines,
manufacturers currently having until
30 June 2020 to t them, and 31
December to have them on sale. “ e
application of certain regulation
deadlines could cause additional and
unnecessary economic damage,” says
Viaggi. Meanwhile countries are
watching one another keenly to see
what works where, in the hope that
they themselves can prevent a second
spike of cases and a subsequent rise in
the critical R-number.
It is in the interests of the global
economy to get industry moving once
more. e entire o -highway industry
can play a vital role if it is given the
chance. Slowly it is. One thing is
certain, however – safety must remain
the watchword. iVT
more than two thirds of the company’s
67 plants were operational to varying
degrees. On a regional basis, more
than 75% of production sites in
Europe and some 60% in North
America, South America and the rest
of the world were already operational.
Priority was given to agricultural and
powertrain manufacturing, considered
essential industries, and in response
to local market demands. ese
were followed by commercial and
speciality vehicle manufacturing, then
construction equipment production.
Also at the time of going to press
Manitou Group had restarted partial
activity on its production sites in
France and Italy. e limited
reopening was already allowing the
group to gradually restart the whole
supply and production chain. “In the
context of the health crisis, we have, in
conjunction with our stakeholders,
implemented very strict prevention
and protection measures to ensure
that our employees return to work in
optimum safety conditions,” says
Michel Denis, president and CEO.
“Workers are given training as soon as
they return on site.”
Last but not least JCB had already
announced a partial re-starting of
production at ve of its UK factories.
Safety measures include employees
self-assessing for Covid-19 symptoms
before leaving home, temperature
checks overseen by medical sta for
every employee arriving for work,
issuing of surgical masks to o ce and
shop oor employees, provision of
visors for shop oor employees for
“WE TAKE CONFIDENCE IN THE
FACT THAT OUR CUSTOMERS
ARE ACTIVE IN BUSINESSES
THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO
SOCIETY, AND THAT OUR
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ARE
VITAL IN BUILDING SUSTAINABLE
INFRASTRUCTURE FOR
THE FUTURE”
Melker Jernberg, president, Volvo CE
COVID19
iVTInternational.com June 2020 19
/iVTInternational.com