[News Release] Meridian Supports Konica Minolta in Winning Two 2020 Bronze Stevie Awards

Meridian is proud to support its parent company, Konica Minolta, for its efforts in helping to mitigate COVID-19 effects and winning the 17th Annual International Business Awards for Most Valuable Corporate Response and Most Valuable Technical Innovation (non-medical) for its Return to Work solution.

Most Valuable Corporate Response

After the outbreak of COVID-19, Konica Minolta stepped in to help dealers provide knowledge and expertise to their customers and they struggled with meeting new demands in the workplace. The company was proactive in its contacting dealers to learn immediate needs and how Konica Minolta could help. Virtual education was implemented, as were online training and joint sales calls. Konica Minolta continually updated clients, dealers, and employees with one set of primary goals: help people remain healthy, help maintain the supply chain, and keep technicians available and in the field. Konica Minolta and its subsidiaries such as Meridian understood the issues people were facing and their shifting priorities as they looked to continue doing business while keeping their employees and customers safe.

Most Valuable Technical Innovation (non-medical)

One of the most notable tools is Konica Minolta's Return to Work program, which has been beneficial in supporting the safe return to work in office locations by employees through the combination of intelligent video surveillance systems that encompass thermal imaging technology, virtual receptionists to mitigate in-person contact, and a robust Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system to house critical data related to adhering to COVID-19 guidelines in the workplace.

Using an integrated cloud-based data collection application, the Return to Work program has helped businesses measure, track, report, and manage important data to stay in compliance with regulatory requirements put in place by governments and companies.

The Return to Work Program

The Return to Work program uses three technologies to ensure the company meets compliance requirements and continues putting employees’ well-being and needs first.
The first step in the program is the virtual health check, which is emailed daily to each employee, prior to going to work. Based on the employee’s responses to a preliminary health screening, the virtual health check system determines if employees should go to work or stay home. If the employee is cleared to go to work, they will move on to the second step, which is the MOBOTIX thermal camera screening.

When the employee gets to the office, the thermal camera will measure the temperature of the employee to decide if they meet the CDC provided temperature regulations. If an abnormal reading is obtained, the employee enters the third stage; temperature verification. If the employee does not have a temperature reading higher than normal, they continue to begin their work day.

The temperature verification step is done by a trained manager who will manually measure the employee’s temperature and log the information into the employee's health check data file. If a second high temperature is measured, the employee may be advised to go home or seek medical attention. If the temperature is within compliance, they can go into the workplace, provided they wear the mask and maintain social distancing.

The final stage of the program is incident management reporting and contact tracing. With the employee health data file - kept secure through an ECM system - it is easier for employers to trace potential COVID-19 positive cases, and reach out to other employees who may have been exposed by a coworker.