Helping to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic
Medical device section of Meiko factory refitted to assure fastest possible production and supply to emergency centres.
Around the world, medical facilities are preparing to combat soaring patient or case numbers. Existing hospitals are building to add capacity, quarantine bedrooms and intensive care wards. Emergency hospitals regularly pop up in just a few days, or in other cases, trade show sites, hotels and other facilities are quickly being converted to serve as auxiliary hospitals.
Cleaning and disinfection technology is an important piece of the puzzle
In order for these facilities to be fully ready for use, the equipment also needs to be fitted as quickly as possible. Meiko cleaning and disinfection machines are a part of this. They play an essential role in breaking the chain of infection, meaning they are important in containing the virus. ‘We are at the heart of key supply chains. Meiko has been a staple of the hygiene world for over 90 years, especially in hospitals,’ says Meiko CEO Dr Stefan Scheringer.
The importance of these products and of hygiene in general is becoming increasingly significant in the public consciousness lately. Meiko is feeling that, too. ‘In addition to fulfilling our existing orders, we are currently primarily producing and supplying cleaning and disinfection appliances for emergency coronavirus facilities worldwide – in Italy, Russia, Dubai, Australia and Mexico,’ reports Sebastian Hainz, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing at Meiko. ‘We are expecting this to continue. Time is a key factor in all of this, including in mitigating the pandemic.’
Quick delivery
‘Meiko's production, and in particular the medical device area, use several production lines. This is a very good system for covering capacity peaks. Our qualified, committed employees are even able to quickly shift additional capacity from other production areas into these production lines or we can plan in additional shifts as required,’ explains Christoph Homburger, Head of Production at the Meiko Group.
‘This means that even with huge variations in requirements from different countries or for different machine versions for individual clients, we are still able to provide short lead times for production and delivery. Medical device production in Offenburg is currently running at high capacity. Yet, our purchasing team's smart procurement strategy and our reliable in-house parts supply system mean we have not had any issues supplying the necessary materials. That is especially helpful in this situation,’ Christoph Homburger continues.
Meiko's goal in all this is to ensure that day-to-day operations in emergency centres remain hygienically safe throughout the pandemic and that they are not even compromised in the event of a malfunction. ‘We are able to carry out urgent servicing work in hospitals, care homes and other facilities and to supply these institutions with our technology worldwide. Assuring hygiene is a matter of preserving life where critically ill patients or the elderly are involved,’ says Sebastian Hainz.
Certified hygiene assurance
‘Not to mention that hospitals and rehab clinics make up a large proportion of our dishwashing machine clients worldwide. They know us for cleaning bedpans and urine bottles and then trust our expertise to provide for their dishwashing needs in the hospital kitchen or canteen,’ says Stefan Scheringer.
Meiko technology is highly effective against the novel coronavirus – and the company was able to assure their customers of this since the beginning of the year. The independent, accredited testing laboratory HygCen Germany GmbH in Schwerin has certified this. Their report compared the temperature, mechanism and use of chemicals in Meiko appliances with the established characteristics of coronaviruses.
‘We feel we have a responsibility to people, to our customers, to our partners and to our employees. This is in keeping with the ethos of our foundation and our values-driven culture,’ explains Stefan Scheringer. This is why Meiko is also taking steps to protect employees. Meiko is implementing social distancing measures everywhere in the world: business trips have been cancelled, hygiene and behaviour rules have been introduced and employees are physically spaced apart. This should further mitigate spread of the coronavirus.