Cummins powered equipment has played a vital role in China’s fight against COVID-19, powering the transport of food, medicine and other essential material, and providing reliable standby power to key institutions and infrastructure.
By continuously powering its frontline partners and customers, the company has played a critical role in helping the country win more time in its race to outrun the virus.
“While our operations slowed or shut down through the worst of the outbreak – many of our employees were still working around the clock to support our customers and their equipment that was re-purposed to support the fight to contain the virus around the country,” said Nathan Stoner, Cummins vice president leading the China area business organisation. “I am extremely proud of the great work our teams have done and continue to do to support our customers and our communities despite all the difficulties they have had to overcome in working and living through such a challenging situation.”
Emergency construction
Construction sites have been a critical front line in the fight against COVID-19. Cummins powered equipment from LiuGong, Xugong, SANY, Komatsu, Zoomlion, Strong, SINOBOOM, Loxa and other original equipment manufacturers contributed to the construction of critical emergency facilities.
By the end of January, more than 7,000 builders and equipment operators suspended their long-awaited Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, the most important holiday in China, and rushed to Wuhan in Hubei province, the epicenter of the virus outbreak.
A team of Cummins mechanical and service personnel also went to Wuhan to provide on-site support as the construction crews built two emergency hospitals in a mere 10 days to cope with the surge of COVID-19 patients.
The construction teams worked 24-hour shifts that were streamed from the building site to viewers across the country. Tens of millions of Chinese and foreign citizens watched the construction, serving as “cloud supervisors” and cheering the construction teams on the front line.
Cummins powered equipment also assisted emergency construction projects in other cities and regions fighting against the virus, including Beijing.
Delivering supplies
Medical supplies and living necessities have been in urgent need since the outbreak. Thousands of Cummins powered vehicles across China transported millions of tons of medical masks, gloves, goggles and other emergency supplies to Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province as part of the country’s sweeping efforts to contain the epidemic.
These trucks had to be dependable and reliable for hauling such important freight, often over long distances. Cummins engines, with best-in-class performance and reliability, helped secure the emergency material supply in severely-affected areas.
In critical periods, a stable and reliable power supply was essential in the efforts to bring the virus under some semblance of control. Cummins’ gensets and integrated service solutions continue to support the medical infrastructure and facilities in impacted areas.
On Feb.7, for example, three KTA19-G8 gensets were delivered to a COVID-19 designated hospital in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region to provide standby power to ensure operations would continue no matter what happened.
The gensets were co-manufactured by Chongqing Cummins Engine Company and one of its original equipment manufacturing partners.
The engine company lost no time in providing professional technical and service support when requested from customers. With collaboration from many functions, the gensets were delivered to the hospital and installation was quickly completed.
China reached an important milestone last week. Wuhan reopened after more than 10 weeks in lock down to slow the spread of the virus. It will take time, but the Hubei province is beginning to return to normal.
“The spread of COVID-19 is having an unprecedented and constantly evolving impact on our global business and on our business in China,” Stoner said. “The health and safety of our employees is always our No. 1 priority, and the outbreak of COVID is the largest global health challenge many of us have faced in our lifetimes.”
