That said Van Houten at the table last night at the talk show Op1. Thousands of respirators were delivered to China in January and February, then Italy ordered a lot of equipment. “And then the stock ran out,” says Van Houten.
‘Not looked at China sharply enough’
The CEO does not want to say whether the order from the Netherlands came too late. He does say: “The whole world has not looked sharply enough at China. It was thought that it would be okay.”
Watch the conversation here:
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To date, Philips has supplied one hundred respirators to the Netherlands. A total of a thousand were ordered. It is not yet clear how quickly Philips can deliver it. “That gives you sleepless nights,” Van Houten admits.
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It normally takes a year
Normally, according to Van Houten, it takes about a year before the equipment can be delivered. Now Philips tries to deliver within a few weeks.
Not only does the CEO sleep badly from the situation, the employees who make the respirators also find it difficult that they cannot deliver quickly. “They feel this personally,” says Van Houten. “People know that lives depend on it. That is really very important.”
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