International Installations during the Pandemic

We design, we draw, we plan, and we install. Our assembly team spends most of the year abroad, implementing our interior architecture projects. The key link between the DOBAS team at our Lucerne office and the on-the-road assembly crew is Aldo Lagler. Together with our lead assembler, our project managers coordinate which team members will work on which site at which time.

Organising international installations requires a great deal of planning expertise. While a rough timeline is established when a project is commissioned, this schedule can shift during its course. It’s like a mobile: when one element moves, the entire structure is affected. For example, if there are unexpected, significant design changes, this automatically impacts all subsequent project steps. Throughout this dynamic process, our clients can rely on us and our years of experience to ensure that all procedures run as smoothly as possible and that communication across all interfaces is seamless.

Covid as an added challenge

Since March 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has tested our flexibility to its limits. Country-specific entry and quarantine regulations have been a major hurdle. Our project management team spends countless hours each month researching current requirements, staying up-to-date, efficiently organising installations, and reworking plans when necessary. Despite the experience we’ve gained, the ongoing changes to travel restrictions remain a challenge – especially when considering entry via third countries. Additionally, finding 100 per cent reliable information that applies across multiple organisations and countries is often difficult.

Significantly reduced flight availability has added another layer of complexity. Even with a well-laid plan, there’s no guarantee of a suitable travel connection. Longer transit times and additional stopovers are often unavoidable.

Key questions for planning

To ensure an optimal installation process, our project management team considers the following questions during planning:

1. What travel restrictions are in place at the time of scheduling, and how frequently have these been adjusted in the destination country? 
2. How are case numbers evolving in the target country?
3. What are the entry requirements for the destination country, including those for arrivals via third countries, and for vaccinated and unvaccinated team members?
4. What quarantine rules apply, including those for third-country entry? Are these manageable for the assembler, and how will unproductive time be compensated financially?
5. What Covid tests are required for entry, and within what timeframe must they be conducted?
6. What are the return travel requirements to Switzerland? Is the destination country on the risk list, requiring returning travellers to quarantine?

This list of questions constantly evolves. Each new installation plan brings fresh challenges – sometimes even those we thought we’d already mastered. As dynamic as the virus itself, so too must our approach to planning installations be dynamic and creative.

Disrupted supply chains and container shortages

Another major challenge involves aligning installation schedules with supply chains. Alongside our assembly teams, our interior furnishings produced in Switzerland must also arrive on time at the destination.

Before the pandemic, we could order a container just a few days before transport, with supply chains running smoothly and coordination between delivery and installation working perfectly. Now, we order a container a month in advance and only know one to two weeks beforehand whether we’ll actually get one. The flow of goods and the container balance between East and West have been significantly disrupted by Covid-19 (read more about it here).

Looking forward with hope

Despite – or perhaps because of – these challenges, we remain motivated and hopeful for the future. With the rollout of Covid vaccines, a light is visible at the end of the tunnel. Our team continues to give its best every day, solving the challenges brought on by the pandemic with creativity and agility.