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On Friday, October 23 2020, Sirron Group Holdings was announced as winner of the “Manufacturing Pivot” Award at the Hunter Manufacturing Awards.
Like many others, our entire organisation was under threat due to the pandemic and our pivot to sanitising products through Zexa Chemicals saved Norris, our Australian made commercial dishwashing division, Butler Equipment, our hospitality retail division, Mahatmacane, our finance division – along with all its several employees.
Facing complete loss of revenue from equipment manufacturing and the bleak possibility of job losses for our staff during Covid-19 pandemic conditions, we saw supply chain shortages as a good reason to pivot our Zexa brand to make soaps, disinfectants and sanitisers into both bulk and retail packs. This pivot was achieved within 8 days.
In a highly regulated category this meant:
• Commercialising formulations
• Sourcing ingredients and packaging
• Developing manufacturing and packing capability
• Developing safety data documents
• Understanding lawful labelling and claims
• Product testing procedures
• Assembling a team and external partners to manufacture large orders quickly
This could not have happened without the support and loyalty to our business of our amazing staff who work tirelessly day in and out!
The adaptable attitude of incredible team members like Geoff made all the difference to the Sirron Group. We reorganised our entire business focus away from manufacturing Norris commercial glass and dishwashers to manufacturing hand sanitiser through our Zexa Clean Chemical division within 2 weeks.
It is the reason we were able to pull off a business pivot that not only saved and created local jobs, but provided desperately needed hand sanitiser supplies to the Australian community at a time when overseas supply had let them down.
Geoff, a long-term member of our commercial dishwasher fabrication team, was essentially re-purposed to preparing 30,000 litres of hand sanitiser for distribution per day to ensure we were able to keep up with the demand for the new product.
Thanks to the selfless spirit and tireless work of Geoff and the rest of the team – surround yourself with amazing people and you will achieve amazing things.
The move has culminated in our company moving out of the narrow focus on hospitality to bringing high level quality products into the households of Australia.
Since the Pivot, we have developed over 90 new products, including new lines aimed at the Barber and Hair Salon industries, child care and personal care products. All of them are high-performance products on the gentlest possible chemistry, as the values of the Zexa Division have always been: Clean fast. Clean safe.
Our fast response, supported by credible research into Covid-19, has positioned us as a reliable and responsive supplier to a range of new customers in new channels.