One year of Covid-19 ... and I am proud of our REHAU teams!

It has been a year since the first infection was reported. A colleague from Erlangen had contracted the disease while on holiday. GEB member Uwe Boehlke looks back on a year in which many things changed.

Uwe, you are the top coronavirus officer at REHAU, so to speak. What was it like back then when the first infection was reported?

My first thought? You don't want to publish it here. It was in English and started with "S". Of course, we all knew that it would happen sooner or later. After all, our Coronavirus era began much earlier. We in the GEB had already come to an understanding in January when the first reports came from China. We were aware of the explosive nature of the issue early on. Those of us who travelled a lot had already experienced the measures against swine fever and bird flu at the turn of the millennium. In this sense, it was a real, sadly unpleasant déjà vu for me.

We already issued our first travel warning at the end of January, and in the weeks that followed we put together the Coronavirus response team, set up the information platform on REHAU Daily and much more. We were prepared for our "day one", but we were still affected by the fact that the first of one of our colleagues had really "caught it". And as a result, the infection figures went up for us too. But most importantly, we unfortunately, very sadly lost two employees to Coronavirus.

You had to protect, as far as possible, the staff of our organisation, but also make sure that the machines kept running. What was most remarkable for you about the crisis management?

In fact, we have succeeded in keeping everything running. So far, we have not had one production line break due to REHAU delivery problems with our customers.

There is certainly no guarantee of success. But I have already mentioned one central factor for success: since the beginning of the pandemic, we have always managed to be one step ahead of the virus, to act early and decisively. There are many good examples of this, including very recent REHAU examples: While rapid tests are only gradually becoming available in many places, we have been making them available to our sites since the end of November.

And when recently in Viechtach our employees from the Czech Republic were temporarily no longer allowed to cross the border, the local plant team had accommodated a large part of the border commuters in Bavarian holiday flats. That was a super performance by our team in the Viechtach plant, the showed great foresight and were solution-oriented!

I'm also thinking of our IT, which enabled mobile working on a large scale almost from a nearly standstill. Or the organisation of 40,000 masks and 8,000 rapid tests within a few days. Here and in many other places, we have shown in this pandemic that we don't wait long, don't talk things through, but simply do things and find the right ways.
I'm really proud of our teams.

How are you coordinating the handling of the pandemic?

The most important thing is communication. That starts with us in the GEB. We still meet every Friday morning at half past seven, virtually of course. Coronavirus is a matter for the management, the central decisions cannot be delegated. It continues with the Coronavirus crisis team, which we formed very early on. Like in a good sports team, all the important disciplines are on board - including Stefan and Judith from Health Management, Oliver and Thorsten from Human Resources, Lydia and Albrecht from Corporate Communications. And then the permanent communication with our locations is very important, especially the plants, where production has to continue on location. We also do our best to keep everyone informed.

What do you take with you for the future from your experiences so far?

Several things: In terms of timing, as always in life, it is about thinking the next step but one ahead, actively creating and not passively drifting. In terms of the result, that the performance we have shown together should encourage us all. Our worldwide, large REHAU family is quite obviously capable of dealing with challenges together, quickly and pragmatically. Incidentally, this also applies to society as a whole, despite all the criticism of crisis management, some of which is justified. In many cases we have learned to make the best of the situation. Nevertheless, I too miss the direct contact with people - things can't get going again fast enough. But I also see how much time you save by not having to travel and what is possible when you use the many virtual channels. We should preserve that.

And one more thing: this crisis has shown us how important it is to pay attention not only to our physical health, but also to our mental health. Here we as a company, but also each of us in our dealings with colleagues, have a high responsibility.

What does the pandemic mean for you personally? Have you (re)discovered certain routines or hobbies for yourself?

Like so many of us, I have been consistently using mobile working for many months. And I realised quickly that I urgently need a balance to the permanent "screen job". Even the ways to the office are missing. Or to the next meeting or to the canteen. I got into the habit of starting earlier in the morning and walking for two hours at lunchtime. The exercise keeps me fit and clears my head at the same time. Unfortunately, I still notice that mobile working tends to make me immobile. A look at the scales confirms it. The fact that I'm working on it and it is in my target agreement with my wife.

As soon as everything is possible again: What do you do first?

Grilling franconian sausages with friends and a keg of Kölsch beer to go with it. Even if that doesn't help with the scales.