Newfren

A letter from Italy

Since the start of the coronavirus crisis, we here at IDN/MotoWEEK  have been keeping in contact with as many of our advertisers and the other motorcycle industry vendors we work with as possible, as often as possible.
Each have their own stories of how the coronavirus outbreak has affected them, both in business and in personal terms - everyone does - and many of the stories are very sad.However, the motorcycle market's eternal optimism and determination to win in the face of adversity continues to shine through, and on behalf of all the businesses affected, and all the people we have heard from, we have selected one message in particular as an example of the innate resilience of the human spirit from Ciriè, near Turin based Italian brakes specialist Newfren's International Purchasing and Marketing Manager Elisabetta Quadrini…
 
Newfren has made bold choices
"Our company operates from two sites, our traditional long-term home at Ciriè, near Turin, where Newfren has been manufacturing since the 1950s, and at our 2,000 sq m expansion facility in Tunisia.
Ciriè - The company has remained open throughout the emergency and still offers a service to our distributors and dealers that has not slowed down. Like all businesses we have adopted rigid restrictive measures to keep our people safe and made investments to allow smart working. Currently most of our office staff work on shifts, and when they are not in the office they can be connected from home. Orders are still being taken, orders are still being processed and orders are still being shipped.

Those who, like me, stay in the office, access the building only after having their temperature measured, and have to wear disposable gloves for the use of common office tools such as the printer, and we have to ensure that we remain in our office spaces as much as possible. Staying still can work in the business premises as well as at home.
In our production departments the staff has been reduced to one operator per shift in each department in order to guarantee the necessary safety measures. The businesses we rely on for external processing are still active and therefore the production goes on without delay.
Tunisia - For obvious reasons the travels of our Italian managers, who normally preside over activities at the Tunisian site, have been suspended. In normal times they would visit every two weeks, but our Tunisian staff are well trained, skilled and capable and in constant contact with us and have immediately taken the restrictive measures to avoid contagions.

'The Italian spirit'

Our Tunisian production site is also ISO 9001 certified, so it always works in harmony with our standards and practices here in Italy. Raw materials and semi-finished products are regularly sent there from Italy and shipments back from Tunisia are still arriving regularly and reliably back here at Ciriè.
In this regard, a huge thank you and much kudos goes to those who are on the roads, on the ships or flying the planes for the transportation of goods - they are the oil in all the engine of our businesses!

While we are still getting some orders, of course the level is way down, as it is for everybody, but we are lucky. Many of our distributors had taken a lot of stock early, and we had built up a very deep inventory, ready for the 2020 'Hot Season'.
Like everybody, we are "clenching the teeth" and trying to look to tomorrow with positivity. This is the Italian spirit, and we hope to receive new orders, in line with normal months, just as soon as it is safe for people to start returning to their lives as normal.
In that respect it is important for all businesses and brands to maintain best possible profile and contact with customers, and we are trying to do that. Among other initiatives, we are stepping up our online and social media presence and building content that keeps people connected with us.
Of course, we have had to change our plans for communications and activities surrounding our heavy investments in lots of the national and international races we are involved with, as well as racers and teams, but our content specialists are hard at work providing product and application based information to keep our customers engaged.
For sure this emergency is going to change a lot of lives, and the path that will return us to 'normal' will not be an easy one, but we are making sure we are as well positioned as possible to be able to return strongly, but for now of course, the most important thing is for everyone to stay healthy."

www.newfren.com
The information in this article was accurate at the time of writing. However, as this edition of IDN went to press further steps taken by the Italian Government to protect the health of its citizens meant that most production processes at almost all businesses in the motorcycle industry in Italy had been suspended until further notice. Sales and customer support function at Newfren are still operational.