INDUSTRYNEWS
A SUCCESSFUL AND
SAFE RETURN THAT’S
MADE FOR TRADE
Made for Trade, like most other businesses in
our industry is carefully managing the way back
into operation from the shut-down forced by
COVID-19. It’s a fact that all of us have been
adversely affected in the short term and although
we predict a challenging path to get back to
where we were, only time will tell what shape the
future of fenestration manufacturing will take.
» DURING THE LOCKDOWN AND
subsequent downturn in product interest we
were forced to furlough a large percentage
of our workforce. A small team remained
working, primarily to keep a close eye on our
incoming enquiry activity, but also to plan
and risk asses the changes which needed to be
made in the workplace to safeguard staff when
the time came to bring people back into work.
When the supply chain began to come back
online we were in good shape to get enough
staff back in to start tackling the backlog and
fulfilling all the orders affected by the shutdown.
Once we got back on top of that we
started letting the industry know we were
beginning to quote on all our products and
recommencing fabrication, albeit at a lower
capacity as space constraints and individuals
circumstances need to be considered. To our
surprise we have been absolutely inundated
with quotation requests from our current
clients and also a great deal of businesses
seeking new suppliers in a changed market
landscape. The initial flurry was driven by
projects that had been paused or delayed, but
it does seem that time spent at home, fantastic
weather and possibly little use for the holiday
savings means that many homeowners have
been thinking about home extensions and
developments.
The ongoing restrictions of social distancing
and process controls do create challenges
and our usual lead times are, as a result, still
compromised as physically the business cannot
have sufficient staff working together to deliver
the numbers we usually produce. Although
not yet at 100%, our recent move to a much
larger premises has really helped with or
ability to keep people apart and we do intend
to develop strategies with seating and shift
patterns to ensure these lead times come back
in line to our normal service, whilst of course
doing all we can to protect our employees.
Clients and customers on the whole are
being very understanding and appreciate that
we are delivering as soon as we possibly can
under the current restrictions.
Product development is one area of the
business which has continued “as usual” and
our continued investment in engineering and
innovation within the industry will keep MFT
delivering the best products, with the best
service, at the best prices - despite the market
challenges we face.
www.madefortrade.co
6 » JUL 2020 » CLEARVIEW-UK.COM