The sudden and rapid outbreak of the coronavirus has affected virtually every sector of the economy to varying degrees. The global supply chain is among the worst hit, leading to a direct impact on the distribution business. Manufacturers are struggling to get goods out of their factories. With air and seaports barely functioning, cargo is piling up at origin supply points and ports in India. Restrictions on the movement of people and vehicles has impacted local air and surface freight movements. To cope with the increased demand, some airlines have taken the unusual step of converting their idle passenger aircraft into cargo-only charters. Reflecting upon the state of the supply chain, Ingram Micro’s Director of Purchase and Materials, Blasé D’Souza remarked that he had never seen such widespread disruption in trade, freight transportation and supply chain.
As different countries adopt different strategies to fight the spread of the virus, some have taken the extreme step of imposing a total lockdown. While this is bitter medicine, it has been effective in slowing down the rate of infections. But the same measure that saves lives affects livelihoods. To keep the wheels of the economy turning, the Indian government has classified specific sectors as essential services that are permitted to operate during the lockdown. As the largest distributor of technology products and services with warehouses and offices across India, Ingram Micro is well-positioned to support essential service providers with their IT and mobility requirements. The entire Ingram Micro team continues to work tirelessly – either from home or warehouses – to fulfill essential services orders. There have been numerous instances where timely fulfillment of technology requirements by Ingram Micro through its partners during the lockdown has made a real impact, like storage for DR for a large PSU, laptops, desktops and UPS to marquee banks & IT/ITES companies, interactive displays for the meteorological department, and many more such critical requirements. Ingram Micro continues to process and execute orders across the country in full compliance with the local regulations.
To help channel partners tide over financial challenges resulting from the slowdown in economic activity, Ingram Micro also rolled out an array of working capital measures under the Ingram Micro Financial Solutions umbrella. This would help partners execute capital-intensive orders without blocking their credit lines. In the words of Harish Laddha, Executive Director and Head of Sales, Ingram Micro, “We are humbled to have the trust of our partners who relied upon us to deliver critical orders even when the nation was under total lockdown. Our IMFS bouquet of working capital solutions brings to the market a unique set of offerings including sale-leaseback of assets purchased in the last 90 days. I urge all partners to connect with us to see how we can help their business during these trying times.”
Ingram Micro is committed to helping the nation tide over this pandemic. We continue to work closely with our vendors, the administration and our nationwide network of channel partners to provide the technology that powers our economy and help us emerge from this crisis stronger.
