“Philips is able to continue its business operations”

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Philips is able to continue its business operations around the world, CEO Frans van Houten said in response to the evolving situation. Next to a decreased demand for consumer products in the most affected regions, he’s seeing an increased demand for professional healthcare solutions. Since the restart in February, Philips is ramping up its production in China to meet the increased global demand. It’s now above 80 percent capacity utilization there.

Van Houten stresses that the outbreak is a top priority. Philips’ focus lies with three main goals: continuing to fulfill critical customer needs, ensuring the health and safety of employees and ensuring business continuity. The health technology giant has set up a central global task force and regional task forces that are monitoring Philips operations on a daily basis and ensuring customer support in accordance with health authority recommendations.

Van Houten: “Philips has implemented personal hygiene measures throughout the organization, together with business travel restrictions to and from high-risk areas. Moreover, we’ve implemented a global ‘working from home’ protocol for all employees whose roles can be carried out remotely and who are equipped to do so.” This helps to maintain a safe working environment for business-critical activities on-site, such as production, supply chain and certain R&D activities.