Dhruv Kanodia: The real question is how the economy would endure

What has been the impact of Covid-19 on your business thus far?

The impact has been quite similar to what it has been to the entire economy. The supplies and dispatches were suddenly halted post the announcement of the lockdown. We were able to secure permissions to restart our plants in due course. However, since most of the customers had still not opened up, we were only able to complete the work in progress and dispatch export shipments and work on orders from essential foods and pharmaceutical manufactures.

In the short term, how are you assessing the risks and planning for the possible impact?

The impact has been real and visible in the short term. The million dollar question is not whether or what impact it will leave on the long term as well, rather the real question is how the economy would endure through the long term impact and where will it leave a permanent scar. The lower rung of the society is most affected and which is where the impact will be maximum and in some cases even permanent.

Some businesses have acted, asking staff to work from home, doing daily temperature checks, distributing critical tasks across offices, and restricting travel. What steps have you undertaken?

As a responsible organisation, we have also taken the same steps as mentioned. As we were able to restart our plants soon after the lockdown, we had an overwhelming responsibility on us of safety and wellbeing of our employees and staff working on the shop floors. From the beginning onwards, due care was taken to follow all possible steps for everyone's safety and have checks in place to avoid any mishap. Even for the staff working from home, guidelines have been shared regularly for keeping themselves and their families safe and alert. 

How is your company staying in touch with your partners / customers?

Luckily the communication channels have been very smooth and steady with all our partners and customers. The culture of working from home and adapting new technologies of video conferencing and messaging applications has caught on well and has helped mitigate the communication gap during such a pandemic.

Do you invest in health care, and is there a robust system in place?

We have always been sensitive and careful towards the medical and healthcare needs of our work strength. All our blue collar and white collar staff is covered by various government and private health insurance policies. 

Confluence of creativity and technology will be the key to crafting a successful future in print. One creative print project which can make a difference you?

I am eagerly looking forward to the onset of 3D printing in flexible packaging. I believe lots of remarkable products can be developed by 3D printing various closures and fixtures used in pouches in order to make them more convenient and useful for the consumers.

One suggestion for the government?

I suggest that the government should take a more empathetic approach towards the real sufferers in this situation. The ones that have luckily not caught the Coronavirus are suffering from the ‘currency virus’. The situation is grim than it appears. People are left with no livelihood and do not have a clue about when and from where the next meal will come.