The coronavirus pandemic caused major disruption globally and across industries in 2020. Supply chain interruptions led to manufacturing production shutdowns for many automotive suppliers, as they did for Fraco S.A. The company, based in Bogotá, Colombia, is a global manufacturer and distributor of gaskets and retainers for gasoline and diesel motors, with operations and customers worldwide.
Challenge: Meeting Customer Demand During Covid-19 Shutdowns
In the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak, the world began to lock down in an attempt to control the spread of the virus. Many businesses closed their doors and sent employees home for what they thought would be a brief hiatus from an in-person work environment. Like many other countries, the Colombian government ordered the shutdown of all the country’s nonessential businesses, including manufacturing. Fraco ran an on-premise version of QAD ERP, which required the Fraco IT team to quickly ensure that the employees had the resources they needed to work from home before closing its doors. The pandemic’s disruption highlighted the appeal of moving to the cloud, an upgrade that would increase Fraco’s adaptability and facilitate the transition to working remotely.
Solution: Using QAD/Quistem Operational Restart Checklist and Webinars
By April, the Colombian government provided mandates that allowed companies to begin limited operations with strict adherence to guidelines. Fraco installed safety barriers, hand sanitation stations and social distancing guides; however, it was still interested in obtaining more resources to help address the complicated nature of restarting manufacturing while keeping employees safe in a pandemic environment.
Around this time, the QAD automotive team, Quistem, and AIAG were developing a 13-point checklist with key operational considerations for the restart of automotive manufacturing. QAD also delivered two webinars on safely reopening manufacturing facilities during the health crisis and on reopening in Latin America, specifically.
Fraco’s VP of Finance, Javier Ochoa, learned about the webinars and attended both sessions. Ochoa found that combining the specific business-related issues addressed in the QAD/Quistem checklist with government regulations and Fraco’s own procedures created the best possible reopening plan.
Benefits:
Fraco reopened in May, just two months after the mandated shutdown. The government health guidelines, internal procedures, and the automotive Operational Restart Readiness Checklist provided the necessary support Fraco needed to resume operations and work through customer orders that each had their own complex border regulations to address due to the pandemic.
“The operational restart checklist is another example of how QAD helps its customers and the industries it serves. With QAD, it’s not just about selling software. They strive to make the manufacturing industry better.”
Fraco VP, Finance JavierO Ochoa
Read the full Fraco case study to learn more about Fraco’s path to operational restart.
