Promasidor Algeria stands up to COVID-19
At a time of globalization, where the world seemed more accessible than ever, no one would have imagined that a virus would spread so fast resulting in a global pandemic, challenging government, companies and people in terms of responsibility, reactivity, agility and efficiency.
In Algeria the first case of Covid19 appeared on February 25th 2020, and precautionary measures were instantly applied at our various sites: Hygiene measures reinforced, temperature checks at entrance, hydro-alcoholic gels for employees and sales force, social distancing, cancellation of trips and external visitors, production increase and final goods daily transfers to our distribution network.
Prepare for the worst and hope for the best as fear and uncertainty grew as the virus spread.
Soon enough, half of our staff were sent home, either on leave or to home offices. New working models appeared, while noncritical operations staff were isolated at home, reinforcing management trust in teams as work was delivered. Thanks to Microsoft teams, meetings could still take place and contact still kept between colleagues.
The Lockdown
Our headquarters in Algeria and also the Loya, Twisco and Amila production lines are located in the city of Blida - the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic in Algeria. The announcement of the full lockdown of this city in Algeria resulted in our Blida site temporarily closing and employees’ fear reaching high levels. At the same time, our other operations within the country were impacted by curfews, which made our ability to produce and distribute our quality products to consumers more difficult.
This is when our agility is put to the test in order to be able to transport staff to our sites, ensure their safety and reassure them, receive raw materials, relaunch production while insuring that teams rotate and never meet, and finally distribute goods within the market. A real Challenge.
Even more challenging were low stock levels, emptying shelves, small businesses closing and unemployment increasing, people isolated at home and a real responsibility towards those in need of necessities who can no longer provide for their families. Companies joined forces for a CSR goods donations caravan across the country, PDZ being one of them with 7 tons of Loya, Twisco and Amila to be distributed between Blida and the Sahara region.