April 10, 2020

 

Dear Colleagues and Business Partners:

It’s been 14 days since I last communicated with you about the impact of COVID-19 on the broader community and our business.  Sadly, since that time, this pandemic continues to impact our families, our communities, and our way of life.  What we are facing is intimidating, but I continue to get inspired by the acts of courage and dedication of our front-line medical staff, grocery workers, postal workers, teachers, truck-drivers, sanitation workers, utility workers and others.  I am proud of Anchor Glass employees who are working 24/7 to ensure that there are no disruptions in supporting our nation’s food and beverage supply chain.

Last week, we learned that one of our employees had a confirmed case of COVID-19.  Our colleague is receiving necessary medical care and he is out of danger.  Our local plant team followed established processes and precautions, including open and transparent communication with all employees at the site.  We do not have any other identified cases.  Based upon the current modeling, CDC’s projections and the likely scenario of vaccine availability in 18+ months, it is very likely that we will have some cases in near future.  Today, I am writing to provide my perspective of this changing environment and the impact on various stakeholders.

Our Employees, Visitors, Contractors:

Our first focus has always been on protecting the health and safety of our team-members, families, customers and our communities. We are also committed to operating our business following the guidelines of the World Health Organization and Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  As an organization, the action we have taken includes (but is not limited to):

• Frequent (daily/weekly) meetings with the senior leadership team and local plant leadership teams to stay current on plant safety and health, learn best practices, implement changes based on revised guidelines, and ensure frequent communication.

• Educating our employees and taking precautionary steps to ensure their health and safety, including:
  • Encouraging employees to stay home if sick and to immediately leave the workplace if they develop symptoms;
  • Disinfecting common areas on regular frequencies;
  • Providing radios to employees to communicate instead of physical meetings
  • Taking temperature of all employees, visitors and contractors at all locations;
  • Social distancing for entry into plants, break rooms and other areas – job changes, packing, etc. (if applicable);
  • Minimizing face-to-face contact; and
  • Our local safety committee(s) are regularly considering and implementing new measures to make our workplace safer and better.
• Our supply chain team is in the process of securing extra gloves, surgical masks, sanitizer and other supplies for our employees and any essential visitors.
• We have created protocols, procedures, and an exposure guide for all the plants.  We have asked our plant leadership team to share these documents with all employees.  If you have not yet seen and wish to review a copy, please reach out to your plant manager or HR manager.

Our Customers and Suppliers:

We understand the importance of our role in supporting our nation’s food and beverage supply chain.  We remain committed to ensuring our customers experience flexibility during this period of high volatility.  We have taken steps, such as:

• Our sourcing, planning, commercial and operations teams connect at least twice per week to assess potential supply chain interruption risk and optimize production for all food and beverage customers.
• We continue to leverage our geographic footprint and the flexibility of our many production lines to support your requirements to best of our abilities.  In many cases, we are absorbing higher costs to keep our nation’s grocery shelves fully stocked.
• Our technical sales representatives (TSRs), Customer service representatives (CSRs), quality managers and planning group have increased the frequency of discussions with our customer’s plant managers, procurement groups and shipping departments to maintain healthy inventory levels and track our on-time delivery performance.
• We have partnered with trucking companies and drivers to make sure that they are safe and following any new procedures of customers.
• We have developed business continuity plans, committed to minimize any disruptions to the best of our abilities and communicate with our partners with full transparency on a regular frequency.

We will continue to deliver on our promise of “Make it once, Make it right and Deliver it on time”. 

Investments:

We have invested significant monies in our plants, processes and systems in the last two years in order to provide a flawless customer experience and extend our competitive offerings in the market.  In the current year, we will continue to pursue this level of investment.  However, due to global supply chain disruptions related to molds, refractories, machines, environmental abatement equipment, etc., it is likely that some planned projects will be delayed. Our team will continue to work with key stakeholders and communicate any modified plans with an appropriate degree of transparency.

Our Community:

Many small businesses, such as restaurants, public utilities, and medical services, as well as the economies of several cities and towns, depend on safe and continued operation of Anchor Glass as part of their ecosystems.  Our local teams have found multiple ways to support the communities in which we are located.  For example, our plants are providing pre-packed food and meals and reaching out to local charities or supporting hospitals with much needed supplies, like cleaning products and masks, for medical and other frontline workers.

Thank you for your continued contribution in making Anchor Glass a top quartile company.  Although these are difficult times for us all, I remain optimistic that our world will get better once again. If we fall short of any expectations, please reach out to your local plant team, your account manager, or me directly at ceo@anchorglass.com

Please stay safe.

 

Highest Regards,

Nipesh H. Shah

President and Chief Executive Officer