Printers in northern Italy have been brought to a standstill by the Covid-19 coronavirus cluster centred on Codogno.
The town has been put in quarantine by Italian authorities and its residents have been told to remain at home. This has stopped delivery of consumables to the companies inside the red zone and prevented them shipping orders.
A spokesman for Printall told Stampamedia the lockdown has caused problems. “We have jobs to ship. Some are urgent and if we can’t find a way to deliver them to customers we will have to destroy them.” The region expects to be cut off for the remainder of this week at least.
None of Italy’s major printers is located in the red zone, though many are nearby and could be affected if the attempts to contain the spread of the virus fails. Printall has just six employees and others in the zone are equally small – and equally unsure about what lies ahead.
Most other countries have avoided the need to close off regions, but have still been hit by fears that the virus may spread. In Japan, where Covid-19 is now officially an infectious disease, Konica Minolta has told staff to either work from home or else to stagger journeys to work to avoid the crowded rush hour trains. Screen has stopped travel to the Chinese provinces most affected and said that anyone coming from them must be in quarantine for 14 days before returning to work. Non urgent travel elsewhere in China is also banned.
Ricoh has donated £830,000 to the Red Cross in Hubei, donated MFPs to schools in the province and promised free support and consumables to production print customers in the area.
Production at Chinese factories has restarted after an extended shut down over the two week new year holiday, without affecting production of production print equipment shipped for export. However, ink suppliers are monitoring their supply chains for availability of pigments and photo initiators for UV inks that are only recently recovered from supply disruptions last year.
Chinese suppliers have been told that they must leave the country this week to be sure of a two-week gap ahead of build up for the Fespa trade show opening in Madrid on 24 March. Other exhibitors and pre registered visitors are being contacted and told not to come if they are in China after 5 March.
Feira Madrid, the location for Fespa, remains open for business, though watchful for any signs of increased infection rates. Currently Spain has reported 25 cases of Covid-19. Art exhibition ArcoMadrid, which attracts more than 200 exhibitors, is going ahead this week.
This is not the case elsewhere. The Geneva Motor Show has been postponed as have shows at the Messe Dusseldorf, home to Drupa. The Messe has pulled the plug on ProWein, a drinks show that attracts 6,900 exhibiting companies from 142 countries, attracting 61,500 visitors from 15-17 March.
The Messe has also postponed five other shows over March and April. There is no intention to postpone Interpack and Drupa, says the company. CEO Werner Dornscheidt, who retires after Drupa, says that safety of all involved must come first, and that this will be considered as these shows approach. “Of course, we are taking our customers’ inquiries regarding the coronavirus very seriously here too,” says Dornscheidt, “so we will re-evaluate the situation in good time in consultation with health authorities and partners in order to make the appropriate decisions.”
Italian printers in the Covid-19 red zone have had to close while Chinese production and supply chains have also been hit. And while many industry exhibitions are being postponed, so far print’s exhibitions this year remain on schedule.
