June/July 2020

Haffner Murat Q&A
MACHINERY
FINDING SOLUTIONS EVERY TIME
Haffner Murat has been supplying and servicing the PVC-U and aluminium fabrication
markets with machinery since 1990. MD Dave Thomas talks to Total Fabricator about
stepping up to the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic...
When did you first start to feel the impact
of coronavirus on the business and how
did you react?
We first started to feel the impact at the end
of February when two of our engineers selfisolated.
A third member of staff caught the
virus in early April. We monitored the situation
during early March and sent members of staff
to work at home where necessary. Our recent
expansion meant staff working on site could be
in self-contained offices, which was a big help.
We furloughed all our workers, excluding my
financial director, Rachel, and me. I could take all
incoming calls and react accordingly and Rachel
did extensive work to inform customers and
suppliers. We topped up our workers’ salaries
so they were not out of pocket and kept them
informed of any changes we might need to make.
In April, Haffner Murat began
manufacturing surgical face masks
in response to the battle
against Covid-19. How
did this come about?
We made the decision
to make masks almost
instantly. As machine
makers it was relatively
easy to make a machine
and we have since added
further machines to keep up
with demand.
What was involved in getting up and
running with this venture?
While the machinery was being manufactured,
we sought the ISO accreditations and the CE
requirement. We had to apply to the relevant
authorities to obtain ISO 9001:2015, which
covers the quality management systems
requirement, and ISO 13485:2016,
which specifically covers the
regulatory requirement for quality
management systems for medical
devices.
How easy was it to
accommodate the new equipment
required at your premises?
Some machinery deliveries had been delayed
due to the virus worldwide, so it was not a big
problem to allocate the space required.
How many masks are you making and
how are they distributed?
At present, we are producing 200,000 pieces per
day and they are distributed worldwide.
How has this new venture impacted on
the rest of Haffner’s operations?
This venture has grown since early April but it
hasn’t impacted on the manufacturing base at
Haffner Murat. Manufacturing has
continued during lockdown
with social distancing in
place – as automation
machine specialists we are well aware
of the benefits of one person per
machine. Shift rotation has also
helped spread the workforce and
reduce the amount of people at
work at any one time.
Is this an area you will continue to
work in and has it opened your eyes, as a
business, to the possibility of diversifying
into other areas in the future?
We will continue to make the masks as long
as the demand is there. We are specialists at
making bespoke machinery, so this lends itself to
all types of possibilities.
What are the biggest challenges you
have experienced at Haffner, during the
company’s phased and controlled return
to work after lockdown?
We had numerous discussions and they
constantly changed with the daily reviews from
government. We decided to return the engineers
first so we could finish all the scheduled work
that had stopped due to the lockdown.
Continued on page 36
34 T F JUNE/JULY 2020 CONNECTING THE WINDOW, DOOR & ROOF FABRICATION SUPPLY CHAIN