Manufacturers give update on pandemic procedures

Mayfran International and Quality Electrodynamics in Mayfield Village shared how they have been coping during the novel coronavirus pandemic with village officials and U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce during Oct. 20 tour.

On hand were Mayor Brenda Bodnar, Economic Development Manager John Marquart and City Council President Stephen Schutt.

The group toured the facilities to see how both essential businesses have fared throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mayfran International manufactures a range of machining tools, such as conveyors, scrap metal and solid waste management systems. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, management there elected to shut down the facility for their employees’ safety on March 18 — before it was state mandated.

The facility underwent a deep sanitization while closed, said President Frank Sraj.

“We had someone walking around cleaning everything — with a hazmat suit on,” Sraj said.

Mayfran, deemed an essential business, returned to limited production a few weeks later, and phased its production back to normal levels over the following months, Sraj said.

He said they were able to rework their office to make it a safer environment, marking one-way staircases and instituting mandatory temperature checks for staff. Around 75 percent of office staff are still working remotely, he said.

“Never waste a crisis,” Sraj said.

QED, also an essential business, produces medical equipment such as coils for MRI machines. Management put in place additional sanitization and social distancing measures, but the business did not close.

“We never shut down — not even one day,” said CEO Dr. Hiroyuki Fujita.

QED is the largest manufacturer of MRI coils in the industry, with around 160 employees, according to Fujita.

VP of Customer Programs and Logistics John Schellenberg said they were fortunate that QED manufactures products that can be shipped worldwide without necessarily needing to be installed by QED staff, so the worldwide travel restrictions did not affect that.

PHOTOS BY SHEENA HOLLAND DOLAN — THE NEWS-HERALD Mayfran International President Frank Sraj, right, gives U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce a tour around the Mayfield Village machining factory.

QED Facilities Manager Bert Toth, right, shows U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce an example of a piece created at the Mayfield Village site by one of their advanced 3D printers.