Cavalier's carpet-making bubbles
Wednesday, 6 May 2020
Carpet-maker Cavalier weaving its carpets in shift 'bubbles'.
To operate safely under alert level 3, the carpet-maker has organised its Auckland, Wanganui and Napier factory workforces into three shift bubbles which remain completely separate with departing shiftworkers leaving the factory floor before the next shift arrived for work.
The move had helped limit risk of Covid-19 infection for workers, many of whom were aged 60 and over, said chief executive Paul Alston.
'We have three shifts a day. In the past those shifts used to cross over. Now we're keeping those shifts in their own bubbles,' he said.
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'In between the shifts all the machinery is wiped down and cleaned out, for the new shift to arrive' he said.
Throughout the economy businesses were having to find new ways of operating to keep staff and customers safe, often running their precautions past government departments to check their interpretation of guidelines is correct, and to learn best practice.
'It has impacted production efficiency,' Alston said.
'You want to keep machinery running, rather than stop it and start it up again.'
The bubble shift system had allowed the company to begin working again, and start building up stock for when carpet stores finally open again once the country shifts to alert level 2.
'Everyone's really happy we were operating. People were very anxious to get back to work,' Alston said.
Some workers had not returned to work yet, however.
'We've got a workforce that's been around for some time, and has aged. We've got some people who are aged 70 and over,' he said.
Some of the oldest workers were still locking down.
The company had instituted heightened vigilance over illness, Alston said.
'If people have got symptoms, any symptoms, stay at home until you get cleared.
'The staff had really got on board with it. Nobody wants to get it.'
Maintaining social distancing had proven relatively easy in Cavalier's three factories, as they were large, and the machines were widely spread.
'Physical distancing is not necessarily a real challenge for us,' Alston said.
The exception was in the factory's cafes. Menus had been changed, cash banned, and only a limited number of workers were allowed in at any one time to enable social distancing.
Cavalier Corporation's shares were listed on the NZX sharemarket, and the price had taken a hammering since the Covid-19 pandemic.
'We've got a strong enough balance sheet to see us through this, and we've got an extremely supportive bank, Alston said.
On April 21, the company told investors it had applied for $2.8 million of wage subsidies.
But, Alston said: 'We really need retail to open.
'If we are on level 3 or 4 for a longer period of time, we could not just keep adding to stock.'
Cavalier did not know what foot traffic through carpet stores would look like when New Zealand moved to level 2.
'Our carpets are generally more in the mid to higher end, so I'm not sure that will be impacted as much as sales across the board, but like everyone we are sitting back, watching and seeing what happens with demand,' he said.
While Cavalier made carpets from both wool and artificial fibres, the company's strategy was to focus on wool for its environmental and longevity, both things that were increasingly attractive to the buying public.
The shift would help support sheep farmers. Course wool was at the lowest point in its history, he said.