TAIPEI, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In response to the current outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Advantech (stock code: 2395), a global leader in IoT, will start posting regular updates on work resumption and production availability at the Advantech Kunshan Manufacturing Center (AKMC), as well as updates on operations in locations throughout Mainland China. Infection status of employees around the globe will also be posted on the official website from February 12th. These updates will provide global partners, customers, and employees with all the latest data regarding Advantech’s global operations and actions in response to COVID-19.
No infections reported among Advantech employees and many staff in China will resume work from homes
Advantech has nearly 8,000 employees around the globe and none have been infected so far. Nearly 3,400 employees are based in China (including direct and indirect employment), with a large number based at the production center in Kunshan. The rest are located in multiple cities—including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Xi’an, and Chengdu. According to the Chinese government’s measures to control the outbreak, enterprise decisions regarding work resumption must first be approved by local governments. So far, Advantech’s locations in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou have been allowed to resume operations. However, in order to guarantee employee safety, some employees will work from home from February 10th to 14th. Other branches have already filed applications with local governments and are waiting for instructions before resumption of work.
Amid the current outbreak, Advantech has been constantly vigilant on behalf of its employees via internal and external platforms—including WeChat groups and ABLE Club. Travel recommendations and protective measures have been disseminated through various internal and external channels and platforms. Local governments have also been informed regarding these channels in order to inquire about prevention status.
Employee safety and health are our first priority. Operations in AKMC are expected to partially resume (30%) in late February
Advantech’s production centers in Kunshan and Taiwan are in charge of all product lines, each of them accounting for half of Advantech’s production capacity, respectively. The manufacturing center in Japan focuses primarily on configure-to-order services (CTOS) business. The manufacturing centers in Taiwan and Japan are operating as usual. Employee health and disease prevention are our first priority. Therefore, Advantech expects to partially resume our Kunshan production starting from 2H of February and gradually return to normal in March (pending approval by Kunshan’s local government). At the same time, manufacturing centers in Taiwan will increase capacity in response to short-term production gaps, in order to reduce the overall impact to Advantech’s global operations.
Starting from today, the latest updates on production capacity and employee status at each Advantech manufacturing center will be posted at 14:00 every Tuesday and Friday, so as to provide customers, partners, and employees with the latest information. (Advantech Data Platform: https://www.advantech.com/resources/news/2019-ncov)
