Statement From STEPCRAFT USA regarding COVID-19
Updated 3/23/20
As we face the global challenge of COVID-19, we know that businesses and individuals are being severely impacted and are relying on CNC and digital fabrication more than ever to continue their operations. Please know that STEPCRAFT will remain open and will continue to be your partner by providing tools, parts, and knowledge during normal business hours.
The health and safety of our employees, as well as our customers and business partners is always our top priority. As such, we support and will follow the latest recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and are are keeping a close watch on the latest developments regarding the external situation and the recommendation of our national and local governing bodies and will make adjustments to our actions as needed. While we hope and pray that the COVID-19 pandemic will resolve itself in a short period of time, we will continue to operate the best we can based on the allowances of our governing bodies and we continue to be adaptive of the situation.
With the establishment of the national and local state of emergency, STEPCRAFT USA will be taking the following actions:
SUPPORT
We have virtualized our support operations, but you can still reach our support team by emailing support@stepcraft.us or calling (203) 556-1856 and selecting “3” for Support. By doing so your email and/or voicemail will automatically be made into a support ticket for our team to address. We will address support tickets in the order that they come in. Please note that requesting support from any other means, including alternate phone numbers, email addresses, web forms or social media can not be guaranteed a reply.
ON-SITE VISITS AND TRAINING
We have made the difficult decision that as of 3/24/20, we have suspended all on-site customer visits, demos and trainings to our facility in Torrington, CT for the months of March and April. We will reassess late April to see if further actions will be required. We will make every effort to utilize technology like FaceTime and Skype to arrange for "virtual" visits and training. It is our goal to continue to provide the best support possible during these trying times.
We encourage you to visit our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/stepcraftinc as we have a lot of training and support-related material there. Additionally you can also visit the Vectric website, makers of VCarve Pro and Aspire, at www.vectric.com as they have a variety of resources available as well. Lastly, please keep an eye out on our social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) as we will be posting helpful and inspirational information in the upcoming weeks.
For the protection of our employees and for that of our vendors, we request that all vendor meetings be handled either via phone call or web meeting if at all possible.
PRODUCT PICKUP, SHIPPING AND PRODUCT AVAILABILITY
We are still arranging for pickups at our Torrington, CT. location. If you need to arrange the pickup of machines or parts, please call 203-556-1856 or email info@stepcraft.us to setup a time. All visits will be limited to the location of our shipping department.
We are going to make our best efforts to ship all orders as quickly as possible, however we might not be able to prevent any unforeseen delays due to shortage of staff or delays/cancellations with the shipping companies. We will be sure to keep you updated every step of the way. Note: as of Monday 3/23/20, UPS has notified us that they will be in full operation.
We are working hard to ensure as much continuity of supply as possible, however in the coming weeks, availability of certain products may be impacted. We are working closely with our headquarters in Germany and with countless other suppliers to ensure that the flow of product remains plentiful and as uninterrupted as possible. Please contact us if you have any specific or urgent needs to discuss and we will do our absolute best to accommodate you.
OUR WORKFORCE
We at STEPCRAFT USA are taking every precaution necessary to keep our employees safe. The CDC has specific guidelines for keeping schools and workplaces as safe as possible. As such and with the advice of our local health officials STEPCRAFT is encouraging our staff and visitors to practice healthy hygiene habits to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, such as washing hands regularly, covering coughs and sneezes, avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth and remaining home if sick. We are operating with a limited staff in our facility on a variable work schedule to manage the number of people at our facility each day.
We know that these are difficult time and we appreciate your understanding and your continued support. We look forward to returning to our regular mode of operations when our state and our nation finally have some resolution on the COVID-19 situation. Please check back to this page frequently as we will be updating it as new information becomes available. Please feel free to call us at (203) 556-1856 or email info@stepcraft.us with any questions or concerns. We encourage you to stay creative and productive, keep your ideas and creations flowing, and most importantly, stay healthy and safe.
Team STEPCRAFT USA