The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is disrupting the supply chain and causing a widespread postponement or cancelation of trade shows. 

Global business events accounted for $2.5 trillion in sales during 2017, according to the Events Industry Council and Oxford Economics’ November 2018 “Global Economic Significance of Business Events” report.

COVID-19 has caused the cancellation or postponement of trade shows and conferences across the globe, including LOPEC 2020, SEMICON Southeast Asia, drupa and Smart Packaging Summit USA.

“In close cooperation with our LOPEC partner OE-A and our exhibitors, it is unfortunately not possible for us to successfully hold the event this year for participants of the Exhibition and Conference,” said Falk Senger, managing director of Messe München and the executive who oversees LOPEC. “Canceling LOPEC 2020 was a painful decision. By making it, we have assumed our responsibility for the health of our exhibitors, conference speakers and visitors.”

The next LOPEC will be held March 23-25, 2021.

SEMICON China was postponed “In order to coordinate the transmission of the virus and protect the health of the majority of exhibitors and guests,” according to Richard Salsman, CFO and VP, operations at SEMI. 

RadTech 2020 and the 2020 IUVA Americas Conference went on as planned, after RadTech’s Mickey Fortune and Gary Cohen said that there were “no plans to postpone or cancel” the events.

The conference was declared “handshake-free” with organizers suggesting “fist bumps” and “elbow taps” as the preferred method of greeting other attendees, RadTech wrote on its website. The Orlando Sentinel additionally reported on the policy. 

Those in the ink (conductive or otherwise) and printed electronics sector have pledged to monitor the situation, especially regarding the supply chain. 

For Sun Chemical, this includes its raw material and intermediate suppliers and logistics providers.

“Proactively managing our customer orders, inventory levels, in-transit shipments and open order levels is a critical path for us,” said Jeffrey Shaw, chief supply chain officer, Sun Chemical. “We have established control teams to manage each of these areas and take the required precautions in order to prevent any supply disruptions. Specifically focusing on individual materials and suppliers will enable us to take any necessary precautions.”

After developing a Q&A for customers, Shaw offered an additional statement.

“While some regions in the world continue to improve, other regions are facing unprecedented challenges,” he said. “At Sun Chemical, we continue to monitor our global supply chain, proactively manage each of our sites and warehouses, and frequently communicate with our supply base.

“At this time our manufacturing and warehouse sites continue to operate, raw materials continue to flow, and logistics providers continue to ship materials in a timely manner,” Shaw continued. “With new governmental regulations enforced and varying restrictions in place around the world, we continue to work with all our stakeholders to make sure the fulfillment process works in an undisrupted manner.

“We have a vast global network in place to manage these changes and an integrated supply chain approach,” he added. “Inventory levels remain in place while we continue to fulfill customer orders. In the event of further changes, we will work with customers to make sure we provide the best level of service.” 

Brewer Science said its customers’ orders are being fulfilled safely and on time.

HP is mobilizing its 3D Printing team and Digital Manufacturing Partner Network to design, validate and produce essential parts for medical responders and hospitals, according to Enrique Lores, president and CEO.

“This includes parts such as ventilator valves, breathing filters and face mask clasps, as well as entirely new parts such as plastic door handle adaptors which enable easy elbow opening to prevent further spread of the virus,” he said, adding that HP BioPrinters will be deployed free of charge to NGOs, government agencies and pharmaceutical companies “to accelerate drug and vaccine research to combat COVID-19.”

Because of a “Shelter in Place” order from Bay Area, California health authorities, NextFlex staff will be working remotely for (at least) three weeks and the NextFlex office and Technology Hub will be closed to visitors and staff, according to Executive Director Malcolm J. Thompson, Ph.D.

“Our utmost concern is for the safety of our employees and our community, and to continue working in support of our members to the degree possible. Although we will not be able to operate the pilot manufacturing line during this time, we will continue to pursue ways that we can move NextFlex forward,” Thompson said in a statement. “To that end, we are committed to sustaining business continuity in creative ways, such as documentation, planning, design work, customer/member communications, data analysis, learning, and more.”

The plan is to return to the office on April 7, per Thompson.

A “Shelter in Place” order was also issued by Alameda County, California, causing SPEC Sensors to close its facility in Newark and limit operations on-site to essential functions only until April 7, 2020, CEO Ed Stetter said.

“No orders will be shipped during this time, and lead times may be extended following our reopening,” he added. “Our sales staff and engineers will continue to work remotely so we can process new orders, continue existing projects, and provide customer support over the coming weeks.”

Jones Healthcare Group said redundancy plans and alternate supply sources have been secured to protect supply of potential at-risk product at this point. The company said it is buying forward inventory as necessary and has risk-assessed and mitigated potential freight disruption for its global clients and business units.

“We have corporate, regional and local crisis management teams in place actively monitoring, preparing and managing our COVID-19 response around the clock,” DuPont said in a statement. “We are implementing our safety plans and protocols based on World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines and recommendations to help prevent the spread of the virus.

“As cases expand globally, we’ve updated travel restrictions, and are providing new guidance to ensure we continue to serve our customers’ needs while practicing safe and healthy measures to contain and mitigate the spread of infection at our sites and offices. In that regard, we have taken several strong actions, including:

• Suspending international travel and restricting all other travel to business-critical only;
• Mandatory self-quarantine measures for employees at risk of exposure;
• Limiting access to our sites;
• Conducting enhanced and more frequent cleaning services at all facilities;
• Encouraging employees to practice social distancing, proper handwashing and hygiene practices;
• Canceling participation at all large meetings, both internally and externally;
• Requiring employees to work from home where possible.”

On the other hand, Tekscan said it is open for business with “no foreseen delays,” according to company president Steve Jacobs.

However, “Please allow for extra shipping time for freight that may be impacted,” he noted.

Indentiv CEO Steven Humphreys released a statement.

“We’re leveraging our global locations and supply chain to continue supplying our mission-critical security and transponder solutions to government and commercial customers,” it said. “We’re remaining flexible and responsive in order to stay ahead of each local situation. 

ASSA ABLOY said it is postponing its Capital Markets Day, scheduled for May 13, 2020, in London.

OE-A postponed its March 23 meeting and General Assembly in Munich. 

BASF postponed its Annual Shareholders’ Meeting, which was scheduled for April 30.

The state of Baden-Württemberg has banned events with more than 100 participants for the time being until June 15, 2020, the company noted. 

Avery Dennison plans to hold 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (April 23, 2020 at 1:30 p.m. PT) virtually. 

BASF’s Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors Dr. Martin Brudermüller previously cited the coronavirus’s impact in the company’s Group Outlook for 2020.

“In the first two months of this year, we are already experiencing a high level of uncertainty in the global economy,” he said. “The coronavirus has added a new factor that is considerably hampering growth at the beginning of the year, especially in China. Lower demand and production outages in many industries are already visible consequences of the measures taken to prevent the further spread of the virus.”

“BASF,” he continued, “anticipates that the negative effects of the coronavirus will have a significant impact worldwide, particularly in the first and second quarters of 2020.”

NXP Semiconductors updated its first quarter 2020 revenue outlook due to a potential coronavirus impact.

“Subsequent to our earnings call on Feb. 3, we now believe that our expectations for total revenue in the first quarter of 2020 will be reduced due to the impact of the coronavirus,” CEO Richard Clemmer said. “Getting our arms around the actual business impact of the virus has been a challenge given the fluid and dynamic situation, but we want to stress that the most important thing at this stage is the health and safety of all our NXP team members and their families.

“From a business perspective, the impact is very much an estimate at this time, based on business trends over the last several weeks post the Lunar New Year holiday. What we have seen is lower than expected sell-through and order push-outs in both our distribution channel and with direct customers,” Clemmer added. “While we have not seen any material order cancellations, we currently expect the impact to revenue in the first quarter to be in the range of $50 million to $150 million.

ON Semiconductor CEO and president Keith Jackson said the company’s factories in China “have returned to normal levels of operations after a mandatory shut down following the end of the Lunar New Year holidays.”

Flex announced that as a result of COVID-19, it expects its fourth-quarter fiscal 2020 results to be negatively impacted and the company is not expected to meet its current guidance.

STMicroelectronics issued a statement regarding its “reinforced measures against COVID-19” in Northern Italy, noting it hasn’t recorded – and doesn’t foresee – any material disruption to its operations in Italy, which are running regularly.

According to the World Health Organization, COVID-19 is the infectious disease, which can be spread from person to person, caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus.

On Jan. 30, 2020, the director-general of WHO declared the outbreak of COVID-19 to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, per the organization’s website.