In April this year, the epidemic situation in Shanghai was serious and faced a severe test in the fight against the epidemic. With the sudden silence of this modern and dynamic city, the colleagues of Elkem Silicones Shanghai, a brother subsidiary of Lanzhou Silicon, faced the practical problem of food and vegetable shortage. This situation faced by colleagues in Shanghai also affected the heart of the Elkem Silicones management at all times. Zhang Lijun, Vice President of Bluestar Elkem Silicones, Chief Operating Officer of Silicone Division, General Manager and Party Secretary of Xinghuo Silicones, and Claude LAUBRIET, Asia Pacific Operation Director of Bluestar Elkem Silicones Division, contacted Lanzhou Silicon to raise emergency support materials at the first time. By eliminating all difficulties, handling special cases with special methods, and arranging special personnel to take charge and connect, Lanzhou Silicon provided emergency support for the brother subsidiary in Shanghai, fighting the epidemic together and protecting the safety of "Shanghai"!

Raising materials from multiple sources

In order to ensure the delivery of these food and urgently needed supplies to colleagues in Shanghai as soon as possible, since April 8, the employees of Lanzhou Silicon were divided into three groups to quickly implement supplies raising, transportation preparation, contact with Shanghai, and other matters.

From the afternoon of April 8, Ma Guohai, Executive Director of Lanzhou Silicon, continued to contact all resources by telephone. However, affected by this round of serious epidemic, Lanzhou, a place rich in cattle and sheep and famous for "Lanzhou Hand-Pulled Noodle", also had limited materials. He collected the required quantity of Yongdeng Qishan mutton with the best meat quality after searching several mutton distribution points in Yongdeng County. To keep the meat fresh, he borrowed the cold storage of shops with spare space to freeze and preserve the mutton. Instant hand-stretched noodles with beef are easy to preserve, but due to the impact of the epidemic, many shops and supermarkets have sold out. After many inquiries, he contacted wholesalers with surplus goods in Lanzhou city. With repeated telephone communication and confirmation, he overcame the difficulties of lockdown and traffic restrictions, and completed the "zero contact" handover of the instant hand-stretched noodles with beef in the expressway service area. In terms of raising vegetables, Lanzhou Silicon had taken a shortcut. Colleagues of Lanzhou Silicon who received this task turned their attention to the vegetable greenhouse near the factory. As the vegetables in Yongdeng County were in short supply and not fresh enough, greenhouse vegetables had become the best choice. Three days later, all the supplies in support of the fight against the pandemic were ready, including fruits, milk powder, diapers, and masks. Batches of supplies gathered together one after another, waiting for the next day's delivery in the expectation of everyone.

Rushing to help in an emergency

Due to the epidemic, all logistics in Shanghai had been suspended. In order to deliver supplies to colleagues in Shanghai, the logistics problem must be solved, and supplies must be transported by refrigerator trucks. The Administrative Office of Lanzhou Silicon consulted many logistics companies in Lanzhou City and Yongdeng County, but the logistics companies were very embarrassed and hesitant when they learned that the destination of transportation was Shanghai. This transportation was very risky. In addition to the bumps and hardships along the way, the risk of infection with COVID-19 and the loss of work delay in quarantine after return were the reasons for their hesitation. General Manager Jiang Gansheng discussed various schemes with the team. Finally, the good news came, and he contacted a national chain logistics company with which he had business relations during his original work in Elkem Silicones. The logistics company deployed a refrigerator truck with a Shanghai pass from Ningxia. After repeated discussion, it was finally decided that the staff of Lanzhou Silicon would transport the supplies to the exit of the expressway. And the certified refrigerator truck would load the supplies to the truck by itself, count and verify them, and then transport them to Shanghai and directly deliver them to Elkem Silicones Shanghai. With the solution to the transportation problem of supplies, everyone's concerns were finally relieved. A refrigerator truck full of warmth and love transported supplies from Yongdeng in the northwest to Shanghai more than 2,000 km away that very night!

Working together to deliver warmth to employees' homes

At noon on April 13, the supplies arrived in Shanghai smoothly. After receiving the information about the arrival of supplies, the employees of Lanzhou Silicon in charge of this supplies distribution showed a happy smile.

The smooth distribution of supplies in the "last 100 meters" and ensuring the smooth acquisition of supplies by colleagues in Shanghai were the last hurdle to helping colleagues in Shanghai fight against the epidemic. Upon the supplies' arrival in Shanghai, Wu Jianzhong, Deputy Director of Operations of Bluestar Elkem Silicones Division, immediately organized the team of Elkem Silicones Shanghai to complete the sub-packaging at the first time, and set up the docking team of Bluestar Elkem Silicones Shanghai Plant and Bluestar Elkem International Trade Co., Ltd. Late at night, with the heavy rain, batches of supplies were delivered to each employee's home, and photos filled with surprises, thanks, and blessings were sent to the company's WeChat group. "The mutton from Northwest China is the most delicious mutton I have ever eaten in my life. We will bear in mind the warmth given by Lanzhou Silicon in our difficulties, and thank our colleagues of Lanzhou Silicon!" a colleague wrote.

Go ahead, Shanghai, go ahead, brothers and sisters, let us stand closely together in difficult times, further strengthen the determination of "dynamic zero-COVID", and make extraordinary responses to the virus, forming strong synergies to beat the pandemic. The upstream and downstream Bluestar Elkem Silicones will make concerted efforts to protect the health of employees and ensure the normal and stable operation of production. It is certain that the COVID-19 will eventually be defeated.