April 10, 2020
The deadly viral pandemic controlled an unparalleled impact on the world bringing life and businesses to a grinding halt. Whatever case may be, one cannot stop the hunger pangs as everyone still needs to eat, drink and take care of hygienic protection. To maintain life at bare minimum provisions, essential supplies like food and medicines and other essential items remain available in ample amount of supply.
Most of the packaging manufacturers supply their products and services to important industries like packaged food, pharmaceutical packaging, labelling of hand sanitizers and disinfectants, and packaging of soaps, detergents and hand washes which are currently in high demand. These products need to move fast from the production unit to the user and then to customers. Hence smooth and fast operational continuity has to be maintained at all levels.
Speaking globally, packaging manufacturing firms are walking on a tight rope maintaining balance with safety and health of their employees and their families, as well as ensuring business continuity. Nevertheless in India, 21 days of lockdown has caused partial shutting of manufacturing as well as packaging plants due to shortage in the supply of raw material, labour and associated logistics and transportation. Though the government has permitted manufacturing units supplying essentials services and packaging materials to be functional, some clarity is still needed for the units supplying raw material at state level.
Plastic Manufacturers Association sees these issues as short-term and they will be addressed sooner or later. But packaging industry on the whole which has been under lot of pressure and a big target of late due to challenges associated with environment and sustainability and now this needs far more organizations, collaboration and technology integration to be able to sail over these disturbed surfs.