PEOPLE IN PRINT
Capitalising on market trends Craig Heckenberg, who took on the role of managing director at Epson Australia just before COVID hit, has taken the business through one of the most unpredictable times in history
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n late 2019, Craig Heckenberg was promoted from general manager at Epson Australia, becoming its managing director and replacing Bruno Turcato. Shortly after taking on the role, Heckenberg was faced with challenges brought on by the COVID-19, amplifying his role as a leader within the business. Heckenberg provided AP with an insight into what this looked like in the early days of the global pandemic, and his future plans for the business.
Q: It has been about 18 months since you took on the MD role at Epson Australia. What are some of your achievements in that time?
Craig Heckenberg (CH): In the first four months of my role, I was focused on the environmental changes within the organisation. My plan was to use that time to lay the foundation to start building a new era for Epson in the A/NZ region. But after four months, the global pandemic hit and from that point on, it was all about navigating the organisation through uncharted territory, since it affected the way all of us lived or worked. In the initial stages of the pandemic, our immediate priorities were looking after the wellbeing of our staff and ensuring they had the necessary support from senior management to provide our customers and business partners with critical products and support services.
Q: What did you have to do to transition the business though these unusual times?
CH:
Having a great team around you makes any type of
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transition smooth, especially in the face of a global pandemic. The unpredictability of last year was our biggest challenge but working together with a common purpose, we were able to make quick decisions to minimise the impact of the virus on our staff, business and customers. Some of the early challenges we faced were around managing people and supply. With all the media reports of people being laid off and industries shutting down, people were naturally quite anxious about their own job security. Leading from the front and reassuring the team that we will get through this together was a huge relief to everyone and it meant that they could focus on looking after our customers and each other without worrying about their jobs. The other challenge we faced was around supply – as everyone was setting up remote working spaces, they required printers, scanners, and projectors so the sudden increase in demand was definitely a challenge for everyone in the supply chain. However, the strategies that we set ourselves pre-COVID didn’t really change that much throughout the pandemic. We have a long-term vision for our business which always provides us with a degree of certainty, even if everything around us was uncertain at the time. We know what is required to transform our own business long-term, but it was the tactical side of things that we needed to do at certain stages throughout the pandemic – that changed in order for us to adapt to whatever challenge came our way. Budgets were realigned based on new priorities and our ability to provide support for customers changed quite a bit in terms of providing customers with remote services using video.
Q: What is your assessment of business requirements in 2021?
CH:
Looking ahead, we should all be cautiously optimistic about our prospects in 2021. Whist our region is doing exceptionally well in containing the spread of the virus, other countries are still doing it tough. And whilst we can still expect more disruptions throughout 2021, strong economic conditions are creating new opportunities for businesses to grow. We witnessed many businesses throughout 2020 adapt to their new environment and create new business opportunities to survive and thrive. For example, gin distilleries pivoted to making hand sanitisers, bringing in opportunities for label printing and supplies. In addition, with more manufacturing coming back on shore, there will be new opportunities opening up for Australian printers. They should be reviewing their own capabilities and aligning them with the trends that they’re seeing in the market. Advancements in digital print technologies are also helping Australian printers explore new opportunities to attract new customers, as well as increase production capacity to meet demand. We are talking to businesses each and every day about new printing solutions to support interior design, signage, labels and textile production, which are all being driven by consumer demand for customisation, personalisation and quicker turnaround times. Locally, PacPrint is a couple of months away and with a lack of tradeshows in recent times, it’s one that we are looking forward to. There’s a lot to be said about face-to-face communication, especially within an industry like ours. PacPrint is well-positioned to bring the industry
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