Bruno Diepois, CEO of Coverpla, explains how his beauty packaging company is reorganizing its business in the face of the current crisis.
What are your most pressing challenges today?
To secure the workspace and juggle what are currently two opposing concepts: work and confinement.
How has your production been impacted?
We’ve made the gamble to keep production going because we have customers all over the world, and there are still markets that are buying and others that are set to start up again. We'd had to rethink production in order to make our staff safer and to apply preventive measures, such as getting rid of night shifts and no longer hiring temporary workers. We’re also reorganizing our teams to account for childcare or illnesses.
There is also the fact that some of our partners have stopped manufacturing, including glassmakers and aluminum manufacturers and production is at a standstill in Italy. Many of our customers, be they Italian, French or American, are currently shutting down and postponing their orders.
What strategies are you putting into place?
Luckily we had a bountiful period of supply, so we are relying on our stocks for now, manufacture only what we can deliver and be paid for and will try to serve our clients as long as possible.
How have things changed vis-a-vis your clients?
Many are small or very small businesses and are suffering a lot from the situation; their markets have basically disappeared. Some are postponing, others are cancelling their orders or are embarking on part-time activity when they can.
How is production faring in France versus the rest of Europe and Asia?
We don't source in Asia, so there is no impact for us in terms of supply there. We don't sell much in Asia either, but we are already sensing a strong recovery in Japan.
