2020 has been a tough year for the global economy, as well as the tire industry. ZC Rubber also stood the test of the COVID-19 pandemic in every aspect, and fortunately held out.

1. Are the plants currently in operation? 

The workers are ramping up the production of tires.

Outside the factory, a long line of trucks was waiting to be loaded, while inside the factory, the machines came roaring in bursts. Once you enter the Zhongce Rubber Group's factory (herein referred to as ZC Rubber) in Hangzhou Qiantang New District, you can feel the production atmosphere in full swing. For the more than 9,200 employees of ZC Rubber, this is a familiar sight and a promise of spring.

After experiencing problems such as insufficient manpower, insufficient supply and poor logistics in the first 10 days of February this year, ZC Rubber officially resumed production on February 10, with the first batch of more than 20,000 workers returning to work.

At present, ZC Rubber fully resumed production, and the factory capacity quickly returned to normal levels, with all production equipment into full operation. The capacity of the companies in China and Thailand has reached 100% to meet the needs of domestic and international customers.

According to COVID-19 prevention needs, the workers in the workshop should maintain a distance of more than one meter.

At the ZC Rubber production plant in Qiantang New District, workers are going through the finished product inspection process.

2. What measures did the company take in the wake of the pandemic?

In the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak, ZC Rubber swiftly set up a mobile rescue team to provide 24-hour free tire repair service for the vehicles of medical workers in the Hangzhou area. As people returned to work, 7 chain store owners of ZC Auto Space took the initiative to provide free disinfection services for all the customers.

ZC Auto Space provided 24-hour free tire repair service for the vehicles of medical workers.

And through strict management, ZC Rubber strives to ensure a safe recovery of the production. The company disinfects the office area, the factory area and the shuttle bus every day, prepares the masks and takes the temperature for the staff every afternoon, thus guarantees each one safe and healthy.

Professionals take temperature measurements and disinfect office buildings.

3. What does the supply chain look like for the company?

ZC Rubber has always maintained a good relationship with raw materials suppliers home and abroad to ensure the daily production capacity of over 120,000 pcs consumer tires as well as 60,000 pcs truck tires, which can fully meet the needs of domestic and foreign customers.

4. What kind of market conditions does ZC Rubber foresee for the rest of 2020?

The global tire industry will be under unprecedented pressure before the pandemic around the world is under control. The demand declines quickly due to the quarantine of cities, states, and countries, and due to the turmoil brought by exchange rate, oil price, and stock market. Everyone suffers from the disaster, but we still believe that we will overcome it as we united and resolute. We will be well prepared for the market recovery after the pandemic and will introduce safe and valuable products for all consumers. Also, we will support our distributors all over the world while facing the challenge, and join together in a common endeavor to fight against the virus.  

5. How does ZC Rubber cope with the impact of COVID-19?

Since March 2, ZC Rubber has held five live broadcast sales and invited tire experts to explain the technical advantages of the new products online.

ZC Rubber live broadcast explained the technical advantages of the new products online.

"The tire industry used to rely on the traditional offline distribution system. After this outbreak, Chinese tire practitioners, although forced by circumstances, began to take the initiative, “said Ge Hongliang, the company's marketing manager, the five live shows have been watched by 240,000 people, and more than 30,000 sets of tires have been sold, bringing online sales to more than 50 million yuan (more than 7 million US dollars).

ZC Rubber will actively promote digital production in the future. The construction of the group's first digital plant is currently underway and is expected to result in significant savings in production costs and labor, thereby further strengthening the company's competitive advantage. At the same time, ZC Rubber will focus on the less-affected markets such as Latin America, Africa and so on, to reduce the loss caused by the decline in the EU, the United States, India and other big markets.

President Shen Jinrong expressed his confidence in the future, “The spirit of ZC Rubber, which is hard-working and fearless, will inspire the tires to roll forward. The sale revenue target of 30 billion yuan (4.3 billion US dollar) for year 2020 will not change."

6. How does ZC Rubber operate in overseas markets?

Currently, the ZC Rubber Thailand plant has been less affected by the outbreak, with the factory capacity still up to 100%. On February 12, ZC Rubber Thailand plant all-steel tire workshop held a groundbreaking ceremony for Phase III production, marking the continuous growing production strength of the Thai plant.

At the same time, ZC Rubber has sent more than 20,000 masks and other medical supplies to overseas dealers in the hard-hit areas and prepared to offer continuous support on an on-going basis, hoping to tide over the current crisis and achieve greater successes in the future market rebound.