We’re all living through what is arguably the most challenging decade in recent history – and it’s not over yet. One Kiwi company that has really stepped up during the COVID-19 pandemic is Bastion Pacific, providers of personal protective equipment.
As their name suggests, Bastion offers a line of defence against viruses like COVID-19, with a quality range of PP solutions including disposable gloves, clothing, and janitorial solutions.
“At Bastion Pacific, we’ve always been proud of our people and the outstanding work they do,” noted General Manager, Hank Anderson.
“But never more so than in the past two years, given the vital contribution they’ve made towards keeping our ‘team of 5 million’ safe.”
Since the pandemic first impacted New Zealand in early 2020, Bastion Pacific has been deemed an ‘essential service’ – and, as you’d expect, the demand for their PP (personal protective gear) has ramped up significantly.
“While most businesses have shut during lockdowns, we’ve continued working to deliver our critical PP products to our customers on the frontline – fast, safely and efficiently.”
Among other products, the company supplies disposable gloves to frontline workers in aged care facilities, nitrile gloves to staff in hospitals and DHBs and disposable PP gear to the NZ Police. As you can imagine, that has involved working some long hours.
“But the team was ready and willing to step up to the challenge.”
Outstanding Customer Service Comes First
To maintain the high level of service required, Bastion’s dedicated customer service team has operating targets of answering all incoming calls within 60 seconds, responding to customer email queries within two hours, and same-day dispatch from their HQ in Whanganui if an order is received before 3.30pm.
“We’ve endeavoured to maintain those targets during high-demand spikes,” says Hank. “Our team has also been flexible in responding to changing alert levels and communicating the impact of this to our customers.”
Ensuring Stock is Always Available
As we’ve seen around the world, one of the biggest challenges of COVID-19 is the disruption to global supply chains. Fortunately, Bastion is well positioned to meet these challenges, with strategically located suppliers around the country and a commitment to maintaining high stock levels.
“Meeting the increased demand in the aged care and healthcare sectors and keeping people safe and well has always been our goal and right now, it’s crucial that we can continue to deliver on that.”
High Quality Standards, Always
Quality assurance becomes even more critical in response to the pandemic – when PP gear is literally protecting lives. Naturally, this has always been a priority for Bastion: they only use suppliers who have the required Quality Standard Certificates. What’s more, all products are manufactured with strict quality control measures in place and are third-party audited.
“We engage an independent agent to inspect and test each shipment following production and prior to dispatch. Quality levels, tensile strength, thickness, and other measures are thoroughly tested.”
The PPE Experts
More than ever, multiple industries are looking for expertise they can trust. As part of their service, the Bastion team provides technical guidance and expert advice to customers across a range of industries.
“During the first lockdown, our sales team proactively reached out to customers who regularly purchased face masks, to help them make accurate projections around stock requirements. This resulted in a special shipment being brought in for these customers.
“We continue to liaise with suppliers to get the right products into the country quickly – and ensure they’re available to protect our frontline workers,” concluded Anderson.
“They’re doing an incredible job saving the lives of New Zealanders, and we’re glad to have played a pivotal role in supporting them to do this.”
