On March 11, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic.

"WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction," WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on March 11. 

Ink manufacturers, printers and suppliers have responded, taking steps including limiting or canceling nonessential travel, having employees work remotely (where applicable) – or staggering shifts for those on-site – social distancing and increasing on-site cleaning measures. 

Additionally, to serve their customer bases in businesses deemed essential, companies such as INX International remain operational. 

INX said it will continue to support its customers’ production and distribution of vital food, beverages, and household health and safety products as an essential supplier. 

“Production is especially critical right now to meet the sudden increased demand from consumers and retailers,” said John Hrdlick, the company's president and CEO. “Our customers require inks and chemical products for all forms of food packaging, medical labels and vital communication materials defined as printed media. The manufacture of printing ink is a fundamental chemical process to prevent widespread shortages of these essential products around the globe.”

Flint Group has taken significant steps to ensure that all our sites, products and services are safe, according to Steve Dryden, chief operating officer Flint Group Packaging and CEO Flint CPS. 

"At present, we are not experiencing any direct impacts on our material supply," Dryden said. "The current situation is, however, both complex and dynamic and we remain in frequent communication with our direct suppliers located in China, Europe and in other parts of the world to ensure delivery of materials as planned.

“Our global procurement team is reviewing material status daily for every region of the world and we have a weekly coronavirus global task force meeting," he added. 

Ingevity said its U.S. and U.K. manufacturing locations continue to run normally with no decreases in production. 

“We are also working diligently to exercise our business continuity plans so that we can continue to supply our customers and we remain confident in our financial position and our liquidity is strong," said Rick Kelson, Ingevity’s chairman of the board, and interim president and CEO.

Plans are in development to adjust production to market needs if necessary, the company noted, adding that its manufacturing plants are not experiencing any issues in obtaining raw materials.

Nazdar facilities also remain open to serve its customer base in the chemical, medical, laboratory, emergency services, food, beverage, electronics, financial services, transportation and aerospace industries, the company said.

"Products manufactured at our Amherst, NY facility, directly and indirectly, supply the world with materials that are essential to the medical, hospital, food, transportation and packaging industries," said Tom Bamrick, VP of sales and marketing at IIMAK. 

Kao Collins said it is fully operational and will remain open.

"We are triaging production and prioritizing at-risk industries such as pharmaceutical and healthcare operations," the company said in a statement. "We will proactively notify all customers of any delays with existing or future orders. Longer lead times and delays are possible."

The Flexible Packaging Association said it issued letters to the White House, all governors, and Capitol Hill leadership, expressing that the organization and its members are "vital to the supply chain when addressing the needs of U.S. consumers in responding to the COVID-19 crisis."

"It is of fundamental importance that the industry’s manufacturing facilities stay open and functioning in order to supply the necessary packaging consumer product companies and retailers need to supply goods the public needs through this health crisis," the FPA said in a statement. 

"...[W]e request that consumer and pet food, health and beauty, pharmaceutical, and medical device packaging be considered essential manufacturing and critical infrastructure industry," the FPA continued. "This, along with our supply chain partners in the food and health industries, such as food processors, transportation and distribution centers, retail establishments, e-commerce providers, restaurants, and other indispensable parts of the supply chain, should be considered equally critical."

At Bobst, factories "will be put at their lowest machine production level to focus on parts and services without compromising the security of our employees," according to BOBST Group SA CEO Jean-Pascal Bobst. 

Comexi's shipments of spare parts and machinery continue to go out as scheduled, CEO Diego Hervás said. 

"We continue to manage all our resources, in turn remotely maintaining full support availability to our clients, should it be required and ensuring productivity in the production plants," he added. 

Canon Medical Systems Corporation (Canon Medical) started the development of a rapid genetic testing system for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Canon U.S.A., Inc. announced. 

According to Chairman and CEO Mike Roman, 3M has doubled its global output of N95 respirators to an annual rate of more than 1.1 billion per year, or nearly 100 million per month.

The company is also maximizing the production of hand sanitizers, disinfectants and filtration solutions, he said. 

"We are doing all we can to support public health and especially our first-responders and those impacted by this global health crisis," Roman said. 

INX created a special section on the company website for the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus situation.

According to the World Health Organization, COVID-19 is the infectious disease, which can be spread from person to person, caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus.

The coronavirus outbreak has caused the cancellation or postponement of trade shows and conferences worldwide, including the American Coatings Show & Conference and drupa. NAPIM’s Spring Convention scheduled for April 17-20 in Phoenix, AZ, was also postponed.

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