Supplier Delay and Force Majeure

Wesgarde is closely monitoring the COVID-19 and taking preventative measures recommended by the government and health organizations including the Centers for Disease Control, and others.  We are making additional investments in resources to provide support, regardless of whether our team members are working remotely or from our facilities. We have prepared our staff and sites for the transfer of responsibilities to optional sites for backup and service support. We are staggering shifts in our warehouses and value-added locations.

Every best effort will be used to continue servicing you, our customer, with on-time delivery during the upcoming weeks. However, we do know COVID-19 has and will continue to impact our suppliers. While we are seeing factories improving their production in China, the impact in other countries and our own are beginning to impact supply chains. We recommend identifying any critical parts to your Wesgarde contact and schedule to ship as soon as possible.

Due to heightened concern about potential community spread of COVID-19 we are experiencing high levels of employee absenteeism in our Value Added facility. The high absenteeism in this area seems to be attributable to employees and the facility's proximity to Hillsboro County which has a rapidly growing number of COVID-19 cases. While we have no reported cases, nor any suspected cases, of any of our employees contracting COVID-19, we have been, and will continue to, follow the CDC guidelines to protect the health and safety of our employees. Although we believe the employees are at minimal risk while attending work, we respect their right to do what they feel is best for the welfare of themselves and their families. Additionally, we have split the Value Added employees into two shifts with one-hour separation to further protect both the employees and continued service of Value Added Services should one shift have a contraction of COVID-19. The high level of absenteeism is negatively impacting our production efficiency and capacity ultimately impacting our ability to fulfill some open orders. Your sales contact will continue to provide you updates on production status and potential delays. We ask for your support and patience as we find ways to work through this temporary challenge. We are doing everything possible to continue running the operations efficiently at a reduced capacity.

Because we supply assemblies and harnesses to multiple customers that have been deemed as essential operations, our facilities will remain open to fulfill our obligations to supply the products needed to keep these critical customers running. We feel it is our duty to continue production to make sure we do not cause any disruption of vital functions in this time of crisis. With that said, we are having to adjust production schedules to make sure we are fulfilling the most essential items while we find ways to manage with less available labor. Due to the uncertainty of these times and our need to be able to anticipate the resources needed to maintain the essential supply chain, effective Monday, March 30th we will be implementing a 4 to 6- week manufacturing lead time, after receipt of all components, order policy. No cancellations or push outs of sales orders within this period will be allowed. This policy will enable our team to focus on sourcing the materials to produce your products and will enable us to accurately plan for the resources needed to produce your parts. Once the current crisis has subsided we will return standard delivery period policy. We appreciate your support during these difficult times. We believe that through cooperation we will successfully navigate through these uncharted waters and once again land on solid ground.