When the global COVID-19 pandemic hit, PMMI used its position as the convener of the makers of goods along with their packaging and processing suppliers to consistently monitor the effects on the industry and provide avenues to keep parties informed. One of the resources PMMI provided was a weekly Virtual Town Hall Series: Conducting Business in Uncertain Times. These webinars brought together consumer packaged goods companies, original equipment manufacturers and industry experts together to discuss the virus’ effect on packaging throughout the supply chain.
As COVID-19 began closing non-essential businesses and all but shutting down states in late March, PMMI also created a Weekly Pulse of the Industry survey to offer some indicating metrics about the impact on packaging machinery manufacturers. Results, as recent as April 26, reveal that due to its status as an essential industry, most responding companies are working (83%) with capacity use levels approaching 95%. The food, beverage and healthcare industries are some of the sectors seeing increasing demand, as consumers continue to rely on the items they manufacture during quarantine.