Company highlights
Going the Distance...
T
his year, as we stepped inside the ring, matched with the unexpected heavyweight of Covid-19, we fought for survival, we fought to retain all our staff members, we fought against limited operational hours to ensure continual supply of essential goods to the health sector in our quest to preserve lives. While Personal Protective Equipment (PPE’s) were the requisite suit of armour for healthcare workers and the wider public, the tension in the corporate arena also found us adding gear of a different kind - a pair of proverbial boxing gloves - for the imminent battle. In the unfolding crisis of the pandemic, many businesses were hard-hit and shaken to the core by the unexpected. The extended lockdowns, the shipment delays, the sharp increases in worldwide prices of imports, the foreign exchange volatility, and product shortages were but a few of the challenges presented which required us to bob and weave through what has felt like a full gruelling 12-round showdown with no luxury of stoppage time. Business survival has required us to go the distance. The invisible threat left (and continues to leave) immense devastation in its wake but it has also brought with it very visible changes. It has contested how we do business and ‘virtually’ challenged procedures that were previously thought to be impractical. It helped us to rationalise what to hold on to and what to let go. Through the very fractured lines there have been rays of opportunities and possibilities. As we continue to navigate the world’s greatest disruptor, the coronavirus, and
its effects on our daily lives, it is quite apparent that we are living through a very unique period in history that few could have predicted. Our hospitals, the health care system and essential workers reached breaking points due to the immense strain. Millions of jobs have been lost, families have struggled to keep the roof over their heads and the wave of grief that has swept over nations across the globe has been unimaginable. The hard-hitting year has shaken us all to the core, with powerful bouts of devastation that have impacted lives and livelihood, leaving many down for the count from a brutal economic knockout. Our legacy has always been rooted in the spirit of overcoming. And that training ground has equipped us with some very useful tools in this ring fighting fit at strategic pace, an agility to quickly shift strategies in response to changes in the operating environment, being quick on our feet (and sometimes seemingly slow to react), being flexible in light of technology and exercising the discipline in being lean. Execution of these have left us poised for long-term recovery and a healthier and stronger emergence. Living with the pandemic has become the new normal. It has made the world stand at attention and realise that health is our greatest asset and the cornerstone of prosperity. It has also confirmed two things that we instinctively always knew:
We are essential. And we are …Resilient!
2021 Annual Report - Medical Disposables & Supplies Limited
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