Due to the coronavirus crisis, we are at the beginning of a deep recession. The end is not yet in sight. What does the current situation mean for your company?
Rolf Eiten: The rapid development of the Covid-19 pandemic is presenting us all with major challenges. Since the beginning of March 2020, when the first coronavirus cases occurred in Germany, we have seen a drastic slump in incoming orders for industrial trucks and spare parts. Our sales partners throughout the EMEA region are also reporting a sharp drop in sales. The coronavirus crisis is forcing not only us but also the operators of industrial trucks to take protective measures for their employees and reduce expenditure. As a result, our specialist consultants and service technicians are often no longer being received by customers on their premises. Vehicle rentals are also being terminated or drastically reduced.

What measures are you taking to maneuver your company through these difficult times?
We have comprehensively adapted our company to the current situation. A crisis team that we have set up in our company is reassessing the situation on a daily basis. Travel activities and all international corporate conferences are currently suspended. Communication is now only taking place via digital channels. We are naturally reducing our expenditure. Investments are being postponed. There are no plans to reduce our workforce. We want to keep our workforce in any case, as we need all employees for the time after Corona. However, we have to take the economic situation into account. This means that we will make use of the short-time working regulations created by the government from April and register for short-time working for our operations in Germany. All the more reason for me to emphasize at this point that we are maintaining our range of services for our customers and continuing our work even in this challenging situation. This means that we are still available for customers and business partners via the usual contacts.

Is the protection of employees guaranteed?
We took measures to protect our employees at an early stage. For example, hand hygiene stations have been set up at all critical points in the company. Employees with pre-existing conditions and/or employees at higher risk due to their age work from home. And as already mentioned, there is no longer any business-related travel. Employees who return privately from vacation trips go through a quarantine period and work from home during this time. There are currently no external visits from customers or suppliers, for example. We have also suspended all training measures in our training center until further notice. Employees who accept deliveries and carry out loading and therefore have contact with drivers are working in protected areas.

How do the processes in the company work, is working from home an alternative and how are areas of the company continued where working from home is not an option?
As already mentioned, we are already using working from home as an alternative where it is necessary and possible. During the short-time working phase, we are working in two shifts to provide additional protection for employees. Our IT landscape is very powerful and allows both external control and unrestricted communication between employees working from home. Some areas, such as accounting, work in the office because no booking is made without a receipt. Employees in the workshop or warehouse also have to work at their regular workstations. However, this is where our two-shift principle comes into play.

Is production continuing at the plants?
So far, production has continued at our delivery plants in Vietnam, South Korea and China. After initial delays in some sea freight deliveries in January and February, which were mainly due to the Luna holidays and bad weather at sea, the plants confirmed normal conditions from April onwards in March. The supply chain from our factories is therefore in place. However, there could now be delays due to interrupted supply chains in the sales markets.

Are there delays in the delivery of Clark industrial trucks or spare parts?
We are very well stocked for both new machines and spare parts at our European headquarters with our large spare parts center and our inventories. We always have direct access to new vehicles in the new machine warehouse in Duisburg and further new machines are added here on a rolling monthly basis. The supply of spare parts is also secured by our international sources of supply, which have been running smoothly so far, and by stocks at our local dealers. We do not currently see any significant delays in the delivery of new machines. We are more concerned about whether deliveries to our customers can take place as planned or whether orders may be canceled.

What is the situation with your sales partners?
As I mentioned at the beginning, demand from end customers in our dealer network is currently falling sharply. This presents our sales partners with major challenges and requires a great deal of entrepreneurial foresight. We are confident that our partners are dealing with the situation responsibly and taking forward-looking measures.

Is Clark Europe's customer service available?
Customer service is guaranteed both in our entire region and locally in our sales area. For our direct sales in the Duisburg region, customer service is available as usual - even during the short-time working phase. Regular customers will be served without exception when they request our services. In the case of inquiries from new customers, we check the situation on site beforehand, i.e. whether the service technician can safely carry out maintenance or repair work without coming into contact with many people. To protect our employees, we have equipped all customer service vehicles with disinfectant spray and issued our employees with strict hygiene and behavioral guidelines.

What is missing and being lost these days?
Unfortunately, personal contact with customers, suppliers and service providers, but also with our own employees, is being lost to some extent. For many people, lightness and openness have disappeared. Instead, everyday life is overshadowed by worries about their own health and personal financial well-being.

How long can a company hold out like this?
We have never experienced a crisis of this magnitude before. Against this background, it is difficult for me to make a really accurate forecast at this point in time. However, I believe that we can survive this situation for a few months if the parties involved treat each other well and pull together to overcome this challenge.

What does this mean in concrete terms for the expected business development of Clark Europe?
Our original economic planning for 2020 can no longer come to fruition. Instead, we are currently working on crisis planning, which includes a significant reduction in sales for the year. The duration of the crisis will ultimately determine how deep the economic impact on our business will be. Nevertheless, I am confident that we will be able to overcome the crisis.

Do you think you are sufficiently prepared overall?
That's a difficult question. In a situation like this, I don't think you can ever be prepared enough. However, I can assure you that the Clark management team is doing a very good job and is taking appropriate decisions and measures in line with the situation at hand, which contribute to the well-being of the company, its employees, sales partners and suppliers. as