Corona Virus COVID-19 and the effect for Ross-Tech

Bruce · Mar 24, 2020

Time to update:

Pennsylvania, our state, has implemented a shut down that is slated to last 2 weeks but has no final date. People are supposed to remain home and can be arrested for being out without a good reason. As a result, Ross-Tech has made further changes:

1. To protect all of our staff, we have reduced the fulfillment department to one person on site at a time.
2. With our stores of supplies, we will continue to fill orders to the best of our ability.
3. We continue to work with our suppliers to keep needed resources in hand and to that end continue to receive delivery of goods.

These things said, should this shut down go on beyond 3-4 weeks, order fulfillment will be severely challenged. Some of our suppliers have notified us that they had to shut down completely.

That sums up the bad news. The good news is that none of the Ross-Tech immediate family have tested positive for the virus. To the best of our knowledge, no one in our extended family has tested positive. We feel blessed that this is the case and we hope that it will remain so.

We want all of our employees and friends, customers and suppliers to practice safety and to be smart about being out and about. We wish all the best in these trying times.

We are here. We will be here. We look forward to talking with you here in the forum. How may we continue to be of service?

Boki Ar · Mar 24, 2020

Thank You Bruce!

There was an earthquake near our neighbors in Croatia, snow was falling here, in Serbia. One torment never alone but let's be here, let's be fine, everything will be OK.

Until this is over, every word of support is welcome.

Jack@European_Parts · Mar 25, 2020

Can we stick to the topic of this thread please?

I think there's a good possibility that IV-C may be useful in the treatment of Wuhanic Plague.

Yes sir...... :rolleyes:

Bruce · Apr 1, 2020

Time to update again

The reported virus cases continue to climb. The Governor of Pennsylvania, in keeping with the guidelines given by the Federal Government, has announced that our lock down for our communities now has no end date. For certain, it will now go through April 30.

Ross-Tech continues operating as we did last week. In anticipation of a return to work at the work place, and again following the oft confusing and contradicting "official" guidance, we have procured face masks. We are in the process of first donating a large number of face masks to the local first responders to help them with their shortage of supplies. Then we are going to make sure all of our employees have access to these.

We have one report that a member of our extended family - a distributor - has contracted the virus. His children had the virus first, then his wife and last he contracted it. The children and his wife were able to recover relatively quickly. He is in his 4th week of recovery and doing much better. It has shaken him. Remember, we are concerned and we do care. Do let us know how you and your family are faring in these times.

Our supply lines are tenuous. So far, we are meeting need and are doing all we can to see to it that our stores continue to have product. Our thanks goes out to our vendors who are finding ways to keep us supplied despite the government forcing them to cease operations in their manufacturing facilities. There are a bunch of geeks out there soldering circuit boards to connectors and placing the devices in packages! Feels like we are returning to our roots when we built all the units in house.

Tech Support and R&D continue full operations keeping VCDS users fully supported and continuing to improve and to develop the product. i believe a new release is pending or has already happened.

We are continuing our planning for the trade show season where we hope we will be able to celebrate together the end of Corona Madness and our 20th anniversary at both the Automechanika Frankfurt in September and at AAPEX in Las Vegas in November. Obviously, these events will depend on government rules concerning the gathering of people, the health of our people, and the health of our business.

USA is expecting the peak of reported infections within the next 2 weeks. For this reason, the government wants to keep as many on lock down as possible. Infrastructure problems are starting to creep up. Water treatment was thought to be an automatic system when they were scaled back. Seems none thought about the fact that chemicals need to be procured and prepared for use in the process. The National Guard may become our trucking system for such. And should we mention all the fools putting wipes into the sewer systems? New challenges every day.

For those in the US, we give thanks for all who remain on the front lines doing the necessary work providing the services that so many need to live. We give thanks to the first responders. We give thanks for the nurses, doctors and all the medical professionals helping those who are ill. We give thanks for the National Guard members who are out setting up temporary hospitals and providing services that are much needed. We give thanks for all who are following the rules and encourage all those who are not to start NOW!

We hope that you will stay in touch with us during these trying times. We wish all the best for you and your families.

Bruce

PS: as this thread has gotten crowded, I am quoting our previous here.

Bruce said:
Time to update:

Pennsylvania, our state, has implemented a shut down that is slated to last 2 weeks but has no final date. People are supposed to remain home and can be arrested for being out without a good reason. As a result, Ross-Tech has made further changes:

1. To protect all of our staff, we have reduced the fulfillment department to one person on site at a time.
2. With our stores of supplies, we will continue to fill orders to the best of our ability.
3. We continue to work with our suppliers to keep needed resources in hand and to that end continue to receive delivery of goods.

These things said, should this shut down go on beyond 3-4 weeks, order fulfillment will be severely challenged. Some of our suppliers have notified us that they had to shut down completely.

That sums up the bad news. The good news is that none of the Ross-Tech immediate family have tested positive for the virus. To the best of our knowledge, no one in our extended family has tested positive. We feel blessed that this is the case and we hope that it will remain so.

We want all of our employees and friends, customers and suppliers to practice safety and to be smart about being out and about. We wish all the best in these trying times.

We are here. We will be here. We look forward to talking with you here in the forum. How may we continue to be of service?

Bruce said:
I have had many inquiries about how we (Ross-Tech) are doing. Many of those inquires have been specific to this old man. As I am the oldest in RT land, I guess there are concerns about what this old fool might be experiencing. Rest easy. While we are at the epicenter of the COVID cases in Pennsylvania, the old guy is doing well. Thanks to those who have been asking.

We are however greatly concerned with the way this thing is rolling out. To that end, we have directed all of our staff to work from home save the ones who process orders and pack. This went into effect on Tuesday, 10 March 2020. Our operations staff - those that process orders - are working in their normal area. As need arises, others will come in for brief periods to do tasks that can only be managed at the office. When those others come into the building, their interaction with others is kept to a minimum.

We are in touch with our vendors so that we can know what their plans may be. We will continue to stay in touch and continue to review our situation. At this time, we are not expecting any interruption in our ability to provide product.

We have also decided to ban travel around the country or overseas for the next few weeks. Our people will hunker down in their homes restricting their travels even around the area. Those reporting to work will come directly to the office from home, will work, and then will return to their home. We are asking our staff not to be in places where others gather if at all possible.

Obviously in this fluid situation, we will continue to monitor and modify our response. If you have questions, please do post them here.

Uwe, Linda and I are all concerned for the well being of our staff as well as that of our partners around the globe. If you wish to tell us how things are, please post the comments here in this thread. In times like these, we all need to be thinking of each other and supporting one another. May all get through this time with minimal interruption to your lives. May all continue to have good health. May your families be healthy and happy. Please do stay in touch with us.

PetrolDave · Apr 1, 2020

Bruce said:
Tech Support and R&D continue full operations keeping VCDS users fully supported and continuing to improve and to develop the product. i believe a new release is pending or has already happened.

I'd like to give a big shout out to all the team at Ross-Tech who have released VCDS version 20.4.0 today. In these testing times it really is amazing how you've kept development and testing running so well.

:thumbs:

Bruce · Apr 24, 2020

Update: Status Quo

While the Feds and the Governors of the States argue over how to do a return to some normalcy, Ross-Tech continues to be in our lock down home caves leaving this old bear lots of spring hibernation time when he is a hungry bear who needs to forage! It's getting old.

We did get some really good news yesterday. Our electronics fabricating house who does most of our assembly work has received an exemption from the lock down. That means they can stop doing RT work secretly and actually begin running their shop on a more full time basis. Biggest up tick here: they can run the SMT line and build boards. Uwe and I had a good night's sleep.

All of our personnel are still safe and healthy - ok virus free - and so are their families. We are beginning to see Europe re-awakening as our distribs are inquiring about getting units. That's a good thing! We have had no reports beyond the earlier one that any of the extended Ross-Tech family has been infected. That too is a very good thing.

Many of our partners have contacted us and most recently, some have been concerned by what they have seen reported in the media. Do any think there is a political nature to reporting? Are there things to be concerned about in the US? You bet. But you can learn all about those things by reading this entire thread. My take: Turn off the media. Relax a little. They really have no more clue than you or I have concerning these matters. All they do is raise our stress level. It's time their power over us ends! Turn off the news! Their agendas are not to give you facts but to push you to think in certain ways.

Trade Show season plans are still going forward but we are more doubtful today about these events happening than we were a month ago. As I said in another thread this morning, if one is booking rooms or travel, do book with 100% refundable bookings. Sure, you will pay more if the event happens.. but, if it does not - and I think they will not - you will thank me for this advice.

A month ago I wrote:

we give thanks for all who remain on the front lines doing the necessary work providing the services that so many need to live. We give thanks to the first responders. We give thanks for the nurses, doctors and all the medical professionals helping those who are ill. We give thanks for the National Guard members who are out setting up temporary hospitals and providing services that are much needed.

I copy this because our view has not changed.. we give thanks for these people who have been working hard the last 6 weeks.

Stay safe. Be healthy. Let us know how things evolve in your area...

Best,

Bruce

(below are my previous poss about Ross-Tech... )

1 April 2020: Time to update again

The reported virus cases continue to climb. The Governor of Pennsylvania, in keeping with the guidelines given by the Federal Government, has announced that our lock down for our communities now has no end date. For certain, it will now go through April 30.

Ross-Tech continues operating as we did last week. In anticipation of a return to work at the work place, and again following the oft confusing and contradicting "official" guidance, we have procured face masks. We are in the process of first donating a large number of face masks to the local first responders to help them with their shortage of supplies. Then we are going to make sure all of our employees have access to these.

We have one report that a member of our extended family - a distributor - has contracted the virus. His children had the virus first, then his wife and last he contracted it. The children and his wife were able to recover relatively quickly. He is in his 4th week of recovery and doing much better. It has shaken him. Remember, we are concerned and we do care. Do let us know how you and your family are faring in these times.

Our supply lines are tenuous. So far, we are meeting need and are doing all we can to see to it that our stores continue to have product. Our thanks goes out to our vendors who are finding ways to keep us supplied despite the government forcing them to cease operations in their manufacturing facilities. There are a bunch of geeks out there soldering circuit boards to connectors and placing the devices in packages! Feels like we are returning to our roots when we built all the units in house.

Tech Support and R&D continue full operations keeping VCDS users fully supported and continuing to improve and to develop the product. i believe a new release is pending or has already happened.

We are continuing our planning for the trade show season where we hope we will be able to celebrate together the end of Corona Madness and our 20th anniversary at both the Automechanika Frankfurt in September and at AAPEX in Las Vegas in November. Obviously, these events will depend on government rules concerning the gathering of people, the health of our people, and the health of our business.

USA is expecting the peak of reported infections within the next 2 weeks. For this reason, the government wants to keep as many on lock down as possible. Infrastructure problems are starting to creep up. Water treatment was thought to be an automatic system when they were scaled back. Seems none thought about the fact that chemicals need to be procured and prepared for use in the process. The National Guard may become our trucking system for such. And should we mention all the fools putting wipes into the sewer systems? New challenges every day.

For those in the US, we give thanks for all who remain on the front lines doing the necessary work providing the services that so many need to live. We give thanks to the first responders. We give thanks for the nurses, doctors and all the medical professionals helping those who are ill. We give thanks for the National Guard members who are out setting up temporary hospitals and providing services that are much needed. We give thanks for all who are following the rules and encourage all those who are not to start NOW!

We hope that you will stay in touch with us during these trying times. We wish all the best for you and your families.

Bruce

PS: as this thread has gotten crowded, I am quoting our previous here.

24 March 2020

Originally Posted by Bruce
Time to update:

Pennsylvania, our state, has implemented a shut down that is slated to last 2 weeks but has no final date. People are supposed to remain home and can be arrested for being out without a good reason. As a result, Ross-Tech has made further changes:

1. To protect all of our staff, we have reduced the fulfillment department to one person on site at a time.
2. With our stores of supplies, we will continue to fill orders to the best of our ability.
3. We continue to work with our suppliers to keep needed resources in hand and to that end continue to receive delivery of goods.

These things said, should this shut down go on beyond 3-4 weeks, order fulfillment will be severely challenged. Some of our suppliers have notified us that they had to shut down completely.

That sums up the bad news. The good news is that none of the Ross-Tech immediate family have tested positive for the virus. To the best of our knowledge, no one in our extended family has tested positive. We feel blessed that this is the case and we hope that it will remain so.

We want all of our employees and friends, customers and suppliers to practice safety and to be smart about being out and about. We wish all the best in these trying times.

We are here. We will be here. We look forward to talking with you here in the forum. How may we continue to be of service?

12 March 2020

Originally Posted by Bruce
I have had many inquiries about how we (Ross-Tech) are doing. Many of those inquires have been specific to this old man. As I am the oldest in RT land, I guess there are concerns about what this old fool might be experiencing. Rest easy. While we are at the epicenter of the COVID cases in Pennsylvania, the old guy is doing well. Thanks to those who have been asking.

We are however greatly concerned with the way this thing is rolling out. To that end, we have directed all of our staff to work from home save the ones who process orders and pack. This went into effect on Tuesday, 10 March 2020. Our operations staff - those that process orders - are working in their normal area. As need arises, others will come in for brief periods to do tasks that can only be managed at the office. When those others come into the building, their interaction with others is kept to a minimum.

We are in touch with our vendors so that we can know what their plans may be. We will continue to stay in touch and continue to review our situation. At this time, we are not expecting any interruption in our ability to provide product.

We have also decided to ban travel around the country or overseas for the next few weeks. Our people will hunker down in their homes restricting their travels even around the area. Those reporting to work will come directly to the office from home, will work, and then will return to their home. We are asking our staff not to be in places where others gather if at all possible.

Obviously in this fluid situation, we will continue to monitor and modify our response. If you have questions, please do post them here.

Uwe, Linda and I are all concerned for the well being of our staff as well as that of our partners around the globe. If you wish to tell us how things are, please post the comments here in this thread. In times like these, we all need to be thinking of each other and supporting one another. May all get through this time with minimal interruption to your lives. May all continue to have good health. May your families be healthy and happy. Please do stay in touch with us.

Uwe · Apr 26, 2020

Please Note:

This thread is exclusively for direct effects on Ross-Tech, Ross-Tech's distributors, and their businesses.

Please use the new General Corona Virus Discussion (into which I've pulled a whole lot of the messages that used to be here) for all other discussion of the current pandemic.

-Uwe-

Corona Virus COVID-19 and the effect for Ross-Tech

Bruce

Active Member

Boki Ar

VCDS Distributor

Jack@European_Parts

Gone But Not Forgotten

Bruce

Active Member

PetrolDave

Verified VCDS User

Bruce

Active Member

Uwe

Benevolent Dictator