The Polish Automotive Group has been strongly involved in the fight against coronavirus

6 April 2020 Posted in News, News

The Polish Automotive Group has gathered information from its members about what actions they are taking in the era of nationwide fight against the covid-19 coronavirus. It turned out that automotive entrepreneurs very actively joined the fight in various ways.

The fastest responded companies were able to quickly switch their production using their resources and competences.

The first to launch was PZL Sędziszów, the oldest Polish filter manufacturer for the automotive market, which already in mid-March used the technology of manufacturing cabin filters and adapted it for the production of protective masks. The company regularly transfers a part of its production for free to various state institutions of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship. In this way, the local Police Station, fire brigade hospital in Sędziszów Małopolski, Health Care Center in Ropczyce and Penitentiary Institution in Dębica were equipped with protective masks.

In turn, IMPOL-MIELEC, which supplies automotive fluids, has undertaken the production of cleaning and sanitizing preparations. The ingredients of such a preparation are spirits, glycerin and distilled water, which the company uses every day for the production of windscreen washer fluids. The company has already submitted the necessary applications for dermatological tests at PZH and Ekolabos to obtain a certificate that will also allow its preparations to be used for hand washing. The product has already passed the first stage of testing and is waiting for further testing. The company has the biggest problem with acquiring dispensers for bottles, necessary for the production of small packaging, whose main supplier until now was China.

Another example is the Cadway Automotive company, specializing in the design of automotive construction elements for automotive concerns and making prototypes of designed elements, which quickly made a helmet prototype for a company planning to launch its mass production. And like many other companies with 3D printers, it fully engaged their production capacity for the production of helmet components, including the “Print for Medics” campaign. The company Roma sp.z o.o. also participates in the same project. – producer of large-size composite products, among others for the automotive industry, whose 3D printers work for this purpose 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Another member of PGM – Green Electricity – a producer of electronics and software for scooters and electric scooters, which also provides the service of an electric municipal scooter, scooter and BLINKEE.CITY bike, contributes to the fight against the spread of coronavirus. It offered doctors and volunteers a free, safe alternative to public transport – individual transport with their vehicles. They are disinfected several times a day, disposable protective caps are available in scooter cases, and service technicians work in disposable gloves.

It often turns out that, to the extent possible, private enterprises, the scale of their involvement is much larger than the funds that the largest concerns of state-owned companies engage in, which are the most talked about in the media. And this despite the financial problems that each of them faces now and will face in the coming months and years!

UNIMOT S.A. was one of the first to get involved, which ordered 100,000 coronovirus tests in China for almost PLN 1.5 million. The purchased tests will soon be sent to the Central Base of Sanitary and Anti-Epidemic Reserves in Poręby near Zduńska Wola, from where they will be sent to medical facilities in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Health.

NOVOL with headquarters near Poznań, which produces varnishes and primers for the automotive industry, has allocated PLN 500,000 to support the Poznań infectious hospital as part of the fight against coronavirus. From these funds, the hospital will purchase the necessary personal protective equipment and other currently needed equipment for medical personnel.

Sanok Rubber Company S.A. it purchased a new respirator and a cardiomonitor with a monitoring center for the Specialist Hospital in Sanok, and financially supported the purchase of a steam sterilizer for the Observation and Infectious Department. The scale of their financial involvement in these purchases is also several hundred thousand zlotys.

It is not surprising that the common feature of most such aid operations is their local nature.
A notable example of the social involvement of Polish companies in their local communities are the activities undertaken by the RST Roztocze company and the Parasol Roztocze Foundation established in 2015. A foundation that initiates many charity activities on a daily basis, according to its motto “Help locally!” she took care of children from less affluent families. For example, in response to an appeal from a primary school from Sopot Maidan the First, she gave a laptop to a girl who could not participate in virtual classes. The Foundation also launched on Facebook a collection of funds for help for the Infectious Department in Tomaszów Lubelski, under which it collected over 10,000 PLN from employees of the companies RST Roztocze, WSK-Tomaszów Lubelski sp.z o.o. After agreeing this with the hospital management, she purchased 20 sets of antibacterial clothing, 30 blood pressure monitors and 40 stethoscopes from the accumulated funds.

The Association Polish Automotive Group (PGM) itself also did not remain passive in the fight against coronavirus. “Together with the Siepomaga Foundation, we have launched a fundraiser to help hospitals that are fighting covid-19 virus,” says Bartosz Mielecki, PGM Managing Director. “The collected amount will be transferred to the Siepomaga Foundation for the retrofitting of medical centers and the necessary personal protection equipment for hospitals such as disposable gloves, protective suits, medical glasses and face masks. We want to involve in this action all companies from the automotive industry that have the opportunity and would like to get involved. You can join the collection through a dedicated piggy bank at: www.siepomaga.pl/wsteczny-dla-wirusa “- adds Bartosz Mielecki.

As part of activities supporting its members in this difficult situation, the association is also preparing a series of trainings and workshops for employees of companies associated in the organization. People who are in quarantine, work from home, or temporarily have no job in the company, will have the opportunity to improve their competences. “For these people we have prepared a series of webinars, trainings and workshops that can help them make good use of this time. In this way, we want to create opportunities for individual development, and in particular professional development. In this way, companies can also show their employees that they are important to them, that they want them to be even more competent after returning to the company, “declares Bartosz Mielecki. All workshops and training are free, and each participant will receive from PGM an official certificate confirming the acquisition of new knowledge.

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