Page 3 - Packaging News Magazine May-June 2020

May-June 2020 | www.packagingnews.com.au
COMMENT | PUBLISHER 3
Shape of things to come
THE pandemic has pressed pause on many things packaging. I write this from my #workfromhome office – now also a makeshift PLAY PKN video recording studio and zoom conference zone – on a day I was scheduled to be jetting back from global trade show Interpack. Last time I was writing this column, the show’s organiser had yet to announce its postponement to February next year. And how the world has changed since then.
The global Covid-19 statistics tell a startling story, an evolving narra- tive relayed by a medley of conflict- ing voices and underpinned by themes of loss, anger, despair, and hope. Translated into logarithmic trajectories, the numbers show who’s done well, and sadly, who has not. A flat line is now the holy grail.
Covid-wise, things are looking good for Australia and New Zealand. Our relatively low infec- tion and death rates speak of respon- sive leadership, fewer errors of judg- ment, and widespread compliance with social distancing require- ments. Our reward is the current
phased lifting of restrictions and a plan for rebooting our economy. But our real test of strength is yet to come, as the job loss tally rises and the prospect of an extended period of economic pain looms. It will be a struggle for many industry sectors and individuals to navigate their way towards a state of ‘snapback’ to find their place in the ‘new normal’ – words that have slipped into our everyday lexicon, along with ‘pivot- ing’, ‘retooling’, and ‘reshoring’.
The pandemic has highlighted the community’s basic needs for secu- rity of supply, food safety, and prod- uct protection – and in this packag- ing has a huge role to play. The challenge has been met with an impressively agile response by com- panies in the Australian packaging industry, in their efforts to not only ensure the safety of their own staff, but also to lend support to their cus- tomers and suppliers and pivot (yes!) their businesses to solve the nation’s immediate shortages of supply for, inter alia, face-shields, masks, and sanitising aids.
We’ve seen an uptick in demand for e-commerce and take-away food packaging. And we’ve seen a notable shift in public sentiment – packag- ing is less pariah, more saviour, pos- itively appraised for its ability to ensure product protection and safety. Packaging converters are see- ing an increase in demand on the back of pandemic pantry stocking, and they’re also seeing manufactur- ers turn back to local supply chains as they realise the vulnerability of dependence on global supply chains. And therein lies a silver lining to this crisis: a return to a robust local manufacturing sector, a hub of inno- vation and job creation.
There’s no knowing how long it will take for a resumption of life almost-as-we-knew-it, the only cer- tainty we have is that it won’t be a case of ‘as you were’. For our indus- try, which has proven so adaptable and is servicing largely resilient sec- tors, the future should be coloured with a silvery hue.
Lindy Hughson – Managing Editor
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Lindy Hughson (02) 9213 8239 lindyhughson@yaffa.com.au
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And therein lies a silver lining to this crisis: a return to a robust local manufacturing sector, a hub of innovation and job creation.”