AZ Imprimerie was created in 1994 and has since developed through several external growth operations to reach a turnover of 3 million euros with 30 employees. The group now operates 3 production sites the main one is AZ Printing (CD8 and 4-colour offset, digital, 3 KM presses, finishing) in Brunstatt, near Mulhouse; the second is l'Imprimerie de Saint-Louis (digital, 3 KM presses) in the city of the same name; and the third is in Tagsdorf near the town of Altkirch. The group bought the Imprimerie de Saint-Louis in April 2019 and has been developing new services in Tagsdorf since the start of the 2019 academic year, particularly in large format, marking and signage (6 wide-width plotters, 1 HP flatbed table, laminator, cutting, etc.). The company director Pascal Kritter tells us about his news and questions.
How are you doing in this time of health crisis?
The Mulhouse region was strongly impacted by the pandemic, which led to a total closure of 2 weeks in mid-March, with activity being reduced by more than 90% overnight!
We very gradually resumed our work, juggling between holidays and short-time working depending on the few orders that arrived. Today, we are at 80% of normal activity, which is a small feat in my opinion due to the loss of all events, tourism and associations.
How's the recovery going?
The recovery is difficult, many of our employees have been destabilized by containment, unemployment and partial recovery. Some have taken advantage of this situation to change direction (retirement, change of region or profession, particularly among the manufacturers).
We have, of course, received all the aid proposed by the State, including two EMPs. So everything is fine, as long as we are on an infusion! But what will happen when the time comes to pay all this back and face up to the catching-up?
As after every crisis in the printing industry, we will have lost turnover (use of other communication media by our customers), but we will have significantly increased our costs. We are going to have to put a line of savings in front of these structural increases... I think that we do not yet suspect the importance of the crisis that our sector of activity will experience.
