April 9, 2020: Battery testing and formation firm Digatron’s facility in Qingdao, China returned to work on March 23 after two months of lock-down. The firm says its first new order has come in as industry returns to productivity.

“We are now 100% operational! We’re back in action with a full complement of staff and have returned to a normal working mode,” said He Zhou, general manager of the facility.

“Most importantly we’ve been very careful about taking the right precautions for our staff — they’re our topmost priority — and we’ve also been fortunate not to have any Covid incidents.”

However, He says the return to complete normal working mode is not yet complete.

We’re almost there but we’ll continue to wear face masks for the immediate future. But the day we can remove them is not so far away. Moreover, we do believe that our colleagues in the rest of the world will make it as well.

“We’ve also been surprised at the speed of new orders, we’ve already received a significant order from one of our major Chinese clients. This really gets us off to a great return to operations.”

Kevin Campbell, CEO at Digatron Power Electronics, said: “While the rest of the world continues to lock down, in China, hopeful news of positive signs for our industry are emerging. We are living in the most challenging and dynamic times of our lives, and it is redefining the way we do business.”