Guangdong companies resume production

Female employees assemble devices at a workshop of Galanz in Foshan. Liu Xudong

MORE than 60 percent of companies in Guangdong Province have resumed production by Tuesday, with comprehensive precaution measures in place amid the continuing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Fifty-six journalists from 33 news agencies from home and abroad were invited to visit four companies in Foshan and Guangzhou, namely Galanz, Sunwill, Blue Moon and Daan Gene, on Tuesday and yesterday to get an idea of how companies are endeavoring to normalize business operations during an ongoing virus fight.

Galanz, one of the leading enterprises in the Chinese household electrical appliances industry, has more than 80 percent of its employees back at work with strict health checks in place, according to Liu Min, a staffer from the company’s administration department.

The high back-to-work rate, to some degree, is attributed to its automation level, which ensures maintained production capacities, according to Liu.

“In the past, we needed over 150 people to work on the microswitch production line. Now, with our self-developed automation system, we only need 33 people to cover all those duties. So relying on human resources less has enabled our production to return to normal more easily,” said Liu while showing journalists around one of the company’s workshop Tuesday afternoon.

Employees must undergo comprehensive prevention and control measures, including body temperature screenings, hand disinfection, even the disinfection of the bottom of their shoes, before entering each workshop.

Additionally, employees are assigned to different mealtimes to further stymie the chances of catching and spreading the coronavirus.

Galanz also donated 100,000 microwave ovens to front-line medical personnel and workers fighting against the epidemic across the country.

Liang Zhaoxian, chairman of Galanz, said that every company in Foshan has moved to help combat the virus.

Blue Moon, one of the leading household liquid detergent brands in China, commenced production Jan. 26 to ensure the supply of anti-epidemic products, including disinfectant, bleach, anti-bacterial handwashing liquid and laundry disinfectant products, with comprehensive precaution measures implemented.

Starting Feb. 2, Blue Moon has resumed full production. At present, they are achieving a daily production capacity of more than 400 tons of product. As of Tuesday, the group had produced a product volume worth over 13 million yuan (US$1.85 million), according to Xu Yuling, deputy manager of Blue Moon.

Blue Moon has also donated disinfectant and cleaning products, including anti-bacterial handwash and bleach products worth over 5.2 million yuan, to Hubei Province since the virus broke out.

In the face of the outbreak, Daan Gene, a company engaged in life sciences and technology research, immediately initiated research and successfully developed the COVID-19 RNA detection kit (PCR-fluorescence probing method) on Jan. 13, becoming one of the first two manufacturing companies to release a nucleic acid detection kit in the country.

At present, Daan Gene can produce 300,000 to 500,000 tests each day. That number will reach 1 million tests per day in the near future, said the company.

As of Tuesday, a total of 1,644 companies in Huangpu District in Guangzhou City had resumed operations, according to the district authority.