CMYKhub outlines virus plans

The country's biggest trade printer CMYKhub is outlining its virus plans to the trade as print comes under pressure in the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dayne Nankervis, chief operating officer at CMYKhub said, "It has been a challenging time for us and our customers.

"Being proactive in managing the business and looking for opportunities to support our customers is a high priority. There is no doubt of the impact on the industry, and we are glad that we have a great team of people working really hard to make sense of this new business environment.

Nankervis is one of the many industry leaders who says print is crucial to the nation, as it meets the challenge of the virus. He said, "We believe the printing industry has a vital role to play during this pandemic, signage regarding Covid19, medical forms, labels, takeaway menus and many other items are required to keep things running. We have a great base of customers and supporting them through this period is critical, providing a range of these products to local resellers gives an opportunity for them to create some income during these trying times.

As various sectors of the economy have essentially closed down Nankervis said, "The challenge for us has been the drop in demand, we like any business are geared for our usual turnover (sales). If you remove a large percentage of sales its vital to make quick changes to balance capacity with demand.

"This has meant some hard decisions in temporary standing down some of our valuable staff during the virus. This breaks our hearts as we are a family-based business however its vital to run a viable and sustainable business so once it has passed we have a good business for them to return to."

 In regard to a total lockdown that may be approaching Nankervis said, "We have been active in pushing politicians to classify printing as the essential industry it is, so we hope to stay open. Having manufacturing in multiple states gives us some resilience to transport disruption. A lot of our resellers can work from home and produce artwork that is emailed to the clients or to us for printing without leaving the house, this can in turn be delivered within health guidelines."