While there is a lot of uncertainty in the market due to the effects of Coronavirus/COVID-19 outbreak, Emporium Partners is currently NOT affected, we are trading and shipping orders as normal. We have contingency plans in place should we become affected and we will follow local government guidelines and recommendations.
The well-being and safeguarding of our teammates, clients and suppliers is our top priority. We have taken steps at our facilities, including the option to work from home, staggered work schedules, social distancing and additional safety and cleaning steps to help protect and support our teammates.
There are travel bans issued by many countries on all continents. These are primarily aimed at limiting movement of people and only in very limited cases are there any restrictions in movement of goods.
Emporium Partners have offices in Asia, Europe and USA. We also have logistics locations in Asia, Europe and USA. This structure gives Emporium the ability to handle goods and also service our clients’ needs from any primary and secondary locations in order to bridge any gap or disruption that may occur. Our Business Continuity/Disaster recovery plan and processes are designed to detail the necessary response in order to minimize disruption to our clients and to ensure a fast response to any emergency including a medical emergency like The Coronavirus/COVID-19 outbreak.
We have identified areas which we consider critical to operate. Within these areas, we have developed operational continuity plans in our teams to ensure we have sufficient resources to keep operations running and products shipped to our customers.
The global supply chain is likely to be impacted due to the COVID-19 outbreak, suppliers are predicting longer lead times. We are asking all customers to allow additional lead time as certain supply delays could last several weeks. Customers should prepare for disruptions in order to failsafe production using measures like ordering additional buffer stock of critical items, allowing for second sources such as upgrades and cross references for standard items, identification of obsolete items, all which Emporium can assist with.
While it is more difficult to confirm logistics and delivery dates at this time, we believe our global footprint and logistics options and capabilities will keep us well positioned to work through these challenges and, if necessary, to help customers put the appropriate mitigation plans in place.
We realize this situation remains very dynamic. We are confident in our preparation and contingency planning for situations such as this. Feel free speak with your Emporium representative if you have question or concerns. In the meantime, we hope that you stay safe and healthy.
The management at Emporium Partners.
