DMMI – Your Weekly Message from Kevin–May 15, 2020

Good afternoon,

As always, I hope all of you, your friends and families are healthy and happy.  I forgot, last Friday, to wish the mothers among us a very happy Mother’s Day, so I’ll say it now—Happy Mother’s Day!

Thanks again to those who participated in Monday’s Virtual Town Hall. These are great conversations that really help us understand what is on your minds, and clearly communicate our direction moving forward. We are planning to continue meeting in this way.

PHASE 0 OPERATIONS: MAY 11-16

In the Town Hall, we walked through the four return to work phases we will move through together.

This week, during our phase 0 operations, we:

• Trained leaders on workplace changes
• Trialed new safety methods
• Started up and tested equipment
• Filled manufacturing stock levels for OEM shipments
• Gathered associate feedback and made improvements

These preparations required a major commitment of time and talent. Thank you to everyone involved.

PHASE 1 OPERATIONS: MAY 18-?

Next week, we officially begin Phase 1 operations. We will stay in this customer-focused phase for at least two weeks.

During this time, we will:

• Continually evaluate and refine our safety protocols
• Complete “COVID-19 Return to Work” training with each associate who comes to campus
• Begin shipping to OEMs for mass manufacturing
• Prepare for future customer demands
• Gather associate feedback for continuous improvement

CHALLENGES AWAIT!

In spite of the challenges, DENSO has taken the right approach by serving our customers and protecting our associates.  We will continue to make both a priority as our on-site workload increases.

Volumes are increasing, but it will be a while before our customers are back to pre-COVID-19 levels. We are developing a plan on how to best manage the excess manpower this creates. This means that right now, not all associates will be required to support our customers. However, we need those of you who have been called to return. I ask all of you to please fight the urge to make equality your focus. Now is not the time to keep score. We must all turn our attention to the challenges that await us in the future.

COVID-19 has threatened the health of our communities and our businesses—we can’t let it threaten our commitment to each other. We must remain united as one team regardless of each person’s role—we each have a part to play in ensuring a bright future for our families, community, and DMMI.

Thanks,

Kevin