Italy's Manuli Rubber first had to deal with COVID-19 impact in China

MILAN—One of the world's largest hose companies actually had to deal first with the coronavirus elsewhere rather than its home base in Italy because it has such a large footprint in China.

Milan-based Manuli Rubber Industries has the bulk of its manufacturing in Poland and China, according to CEO Dardano Manuli. In addition, he said that Melbourne, Australia-based Ryco Hydraulics Pty. Ltd.—which merged early this year to form a hydraulic hose and fitting company with about $550 million in annual sales—has its production in Malaysia and China.

"To put things into perspective, after the Ryco acquisition, less than 4 percent of our global work force is based in Italy, mainly the global headquarters and the Innovation Centre," Manuli said in response to emailed questions.

The combined business employs more than 4,500 worldwide, with 3,700 of those from MRI and 800 from Ryco.

Manuli said Chinese operations were suspended for about month, with half of that being planned for holiday shutdown.

"In Italy we have, so far, been able to maintain the operations running with no disruption as they are considered a strategic production for the oil and gas industry," Manuli said. "Perhaps surprisingly, we are experiencing more disruption in countries like India, South Africa, or even the U.S., where in some states, the shutdown was imposed abruptly and unexpectedly without time to prepare."

Manuli said the units supplying OEM accounts have had to either completely stop or severely scale back operations, with the exception of China and South Korea. He added that the company hasn't retrofitted its operations to make other types of goods because the machinery isn't suited to making different products on short notice.

That's not to say that Manuli Rubber's staff in Italy hasn't been impacted in a number of ways. The rules implemented by the Italian government have forced all white collar employees to work from home starting March 9, which Manuli said isn't the most productive way to run operations.

"Now, travel restrictions have been imposed on an almost worldwide basis, so we are all learning to deal with this situation from a work standpoint," the MRI CEO said.

Because the hose firm had to manage the situation in China before the crisis reached Europe, "in many ways our safety and management procedures were already in place and have been redeployed quickly in Europe," Manuli said.

Up to this point, no company employees have tested positive for COVID-19, but some staff in Italy have lost elderly family members to the pandemic, he said.

"As far as being 'exposed' to it, it could very well be that the majority—or at least a very large part—of the Chinese and Italian populations have already being exposed to the virus," Manuli said. "We will know once the tests for antibodies become widely available."

For those under 65, the CEO said the psychological damage often is worse than the illness itself. "The virus is in our lives 24/7 through the media, the official statements by governments, the friends and relatives who have tested positive (my personal acquaintances have all made it through safely, thank God), and the constant business disruptions due to changing regulations," Manuli said. "Sometimes it is hard to keep a cool head. Is this overblown or is the response appropriate? Only history will tell."