DIC Asia Pacific’s Activities
DIC Asia Pacific is focused on safety and stable growth.
The pandemic has taught us all not to take safety for granted. Though initially ill-prepared, focused on safety, our DIC Asia Pacific team managed to curb the spread of COVID-19 and secure safe working environments. While the pandemic did cause disruptions and confusion, DIC Asia Pacific entities remained focused on delivering quality products and services.
Paul Koek
MManaging Director,
DIC Asia Pacific Pte Ltd
Tackling the Pandemic
The year 2020 was truly unprecedented. While many nations are now rolling out vaccination programs, and over 2.45 billion people
have received at least one dose, COVID-19 will likely persist for some time, affecting both our personal lives and the economy.
The virus reached pandemic status alarmingly fast, infecting over 177 million, taking over 3.83 million lives and pummeling the
global economy. And just as we thought the virus was under control, new variants lead to second and third waves, resulting in
further lockdowns and plant closures.
Prioritizing Employee Safety and Stable Growth
The pandemic has taught us all to be constantly vigilant and not take safety for granted. Though initially ill-prepared, focused on safety, our
DIC Asia Pacific team has worked tirelessly to draft new management guidelines and practices, effectively disseminated, and implemented.
Thus, we managed to curb the spread of COVID-19 and secure safe working environments. While the pandemic did cause disruptions and
confusion, DIC Asia Pacific entities have remained focused on delivering the quality products our customers depend on.
Despite the pandemic, DIC Asia Pacific had to make some difficult but necessary decisions. Sadly, we had to transition the
Australian and New Zealand news inks business from a manufacturing to a trading model. We did so successfully and ahead of plan.
In India—where a steep decline in publishing wiped away 70% of normal average volumes—Team DIC has managed operating profits month-on-month since April 2020. We accomplished this through value engineering, effective cost mitigation and working capital management. Moreover, DIC India Ltd. was the first to initiate digitalization, introducing the Ink Master Mobile Application to address day-to-day customer queries.
DIC India
Meeting our Customers and Community Needs
In Thailand, through strong relationships with Global Key Account partners, our DIC colleagues at Siam Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., managed to secure a large new contract. In Malaysia, even with virus cases spiking, all entities performed well. Exemplifying DIC CSR, the region participated in the first regionally coordinated CSR program, with many employees taking time to distribute DIC Health Packs to the underprivileged and essential workers. This was The DIC Way in action.
DIC Compounds (Malaysia)
Safety First
Overall, the pandemic impact has been severe, but through our actions, particularly in-plant,
production teams, in-plant technicians, quality control and lab members, and safety officers
helped grow revenue by 6% month-on-month since May 2020. Together with team members
working remotely to coordinate the support functions, DIC Asia Pacific has maintained an
exemplary safety record.
Of course, we had failures. However, we were not disheartened and continued to work even
harder. The Asia–Pacific region managed to achieve a total recordable injury rate (TRIR) of 0.86—
the lowest in the DIC Group and a major achievement, given that our score was over 2.0 the past
two years. We achieved this by focusing on Safety First at all levels, with over 90% of employees
participating in safety e-learning programs.
Siam Chemical Industry
