Amitava Ray, executive director of UFlex, speaks about the COVID-19 crisis, how UFlex is adapting throughout the situation and the way forward. Here is an excerpt from the interview with The Packman:
Mahan Hazarika: How is UFlex affected by the current situation?
Amitava Ray: COVID-19 has impacted right at the gut of the industrial production and affected the world economy at large. The overall brunt of which is still being estimated. According to United Nations, the pandemic is likely to shrink global GDP by almost 1% in 2020. Even though people are hoarding commodities due to fear mongering, the consumption levels and demand have relatively come down. Many of our customers in food and pharma business are also facing issues of on-time transportation, distribution and lack of manpower due to lockdown and they are only able to run their plants partially. This has impacted their businesses and in turn has impacted the packaging industry as well.
UFlex is putting in enormous efforts to contribute to the fight against this challenging situation. We are making sure that there is no shortage of packaged products for public, which are essential for survival. As we come under the essential services sector, our plant is open with minimal staff strength to support packaging demands of FMCG and pharmaceutical sectors.
Mahan Hazarika: How has your production been affected?
Amitava Ray: The lockdown was declared by our Prime Minister keeping in mind the health of people of the country; however, it was clear that essential services would continue to ply. Since packaging is an essential service that is indispensable to FMCG and pharmaceutical requirements, we were able to obtain necessary permission from the local authorities to resume our production process by following all necessary preventive measures. Due to lack of clarity and the fear that gripped the nation when the lockdown was announced, we saw a lot of workers going back to their villages in the initial days. Sourcing of raw materials and distribution also has been a challenge in this situation and the whole ecosystem has been affected.
But now with some relaxations announced over a period of time, the situation is improving each day. The transportation and logistics that was affected is getting better. Today, we are running our Packaging Business lines at about 50% capacity however our Packaging Films lines overseas are running at almost full capacity. Our other business verticals are running at lower capacities due to similar challenges of lesser manpower, limited transportation and raw materials’ shortage.
Mahan Hazarika: How are you managing your supply chain?
Amitava Ray: Despite the permissions availed to operate the plant, the biggest bottleneck being faced by us is the continuity of supply chain process and manpower issues. Many external partners who are into supply-chain service of packaging are not running to their full potential due to lack of manpower, financial resources and other on-ground challenges related to distribution and transportation. This in turn is posing a dual impact of shortage of raw materials for the industry as well as final consumables reaching the retail shelves.
Given our relation with customers and delivery performance, UFlex is being seen as a preferred partner to supply packaging and the customers are turning to us for solutions, especially in these times. I must admit it’s extremely humbling to know the belief they have placed on us and we can’t them down. We all realize that these are extraordinary times and it calls for extraordinary solutions. Therefore, if it means that we have to source our raw material locally, we are doing that. Also as we are across the value chain of flexible packaging, it works as an advantage point for us.
Mahan Hazarika: How is your company adapting throughout this crisis?
Amitava Ray: The COVID-19 situation has bought a unique challenge to the entire industry and we are not an exception. Our strong Business Continuity Plan helped us navigate through this unforeseen situation. We had to adapt to rising demand for particular category while facing zilch demand for another which we have successfully done so far.
Mahan Hazarika: Which all divisions of your company are currently active?
Amitava Ray: Our Packaging division is functioning at 50% capacity, while other business verticals like Cylinder, Engineering and Chemicals are running at lower capacities against usual. However, our Packaging Films lines overseas are working at almost full capacity.
Mahan Hazarika: What action is UFlex taking during this time to manage the crisis situation for employees and the organization?
Amitava Ray: At UFlex, we are concerned about the health and safety of our employees and workers, beyond the normal standard. We are equally committed to this fight against the deadly virus and we are ensuring that we support the food and pharma industry with packaging supplies, at this tough time. To operate our plant, we are allowing only minimal staff to work who are thermal screened each day, before entering the plants. Anyone who has any signs of fever, cough, and cold are advised to stay at home. Timely sanitization measures are also being undertaken at our plant and social distancing is being maintained at the workplace as well.
Even in the last few weeks preceding lockdown, we had enforced measures related to travel restriction and frequent sanitation cycle, across all UFlex premises. In a bid to discourage gatherings, we had suspended all training activities and were encouraging our employees to make use of virtual meetings.
Mahan Hazarika: What plans does UFlex have for the near future, post lock-down?
Amitava Ray: The Corona crisis that has hit us is not going to be a short story. Even after the lockdown is lifted, the misery of COVID-19 is likely to continue for months leading to restriction on running of many services. So far, we have been fortunate not to have any UFlex employee or family get infected and there are many steps that one needs to take to make sure that we don’t see another wave of this pandemic, post the lockdown. Our shop-floors should continue to be COVID-19 guidelines’ compliant that ensures safety of all workers. Manpower crunch would be a challenge to face so getting those labours back to cities with assurance of their health and safety would be required.
We will need to adapt to the new normal as we expect the world at large to change post COVID-19. Right from organizational work culture, consumer habits to business behavior, this crisis will lead to a new order!