March 25: Govt Announces Lockdown.
March 28: Crea develops Face Shield
March 29: Crea develops Face Shield Parka
March 30: Crea develops Coverall
March 31: Crea presents the above products to the government authorities
April 1: Crea gets permission to open factory and manufacture
April 1 - May 7: Crea develops multiple versions of the coverall, more options of face shields, a few options of reusable protection masks. Bags orders and starts production and supply.
May 8: Crea’s coverall gets validated and certified by DRDO - Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, with Class 4 certification, above Class 3 which is the minimum requirement.
Writing this on LinkedIn, Prem Premkumar, MD and COO, CREA Worldwide, added: “Crea otherwise is a manufacturing company with a decade of manufacturing expertise, and have supplied over millions of travel bags and travel accessories over the years. When the lockdown was announced, we were dumbstruck, not knowing what lies ahead. Today, can proudly say - the team at Crea stood rock solid. It's their unwavering spirit and resilience that has made Crea what we are today. Take a bow, team. Take a bow. We are what we are today, because of you.”
Q&A with Upkar Sharma, Founder and CEO
What is the role of a culture of innovation in this pivot?
Crea as a company has innovation its DNA. We had made a decision about four years back that it doesn’t matter how arduous our journey becomes, how long it takes, whatever comes in our way, we will innovate even if it’s not valued in our existing ecosystem. That we won’t be just another white labelling manufacturer. The hard part is making that decision. One the decision is made, it’s easy. Over the last few years, we have a couple of design patents, pathbreaking products and the world’s first 100 per cent biodegradable bags range to our credit. Innovation isn’t a thing you do, or a department you have. Innovation is a state of being. In a country that thrives on jugaad, breakthrough innovation is extremely difficult as the ecosystem doesn’t understand what you’re trying to do. Nevertheless, it’s a road we have taken and its second nature to us now.
The experience of getting permissions - challenges, saviours, learnings...
Well, many people are to credit for this. First of all our sampling master Mehraj, who worked six days and nights to continuously churn out options till we came to a viable product. District authorities of Faridabad, the DC Yashpal Yadav, who once convinced that we had some value to offer in terms of PPE was quick to issue permission. The office of JDDIC Faridabad, Mr Ishwar Yadav. I was clueless about the process. I messaged for some reference or help to Mohit Bhatnagar at Sequoia who in turn introduced me to Mohit Beotra, who then made a few calls to find out the due process and guided me along the way. My friend and Stanford seed cohort mate Dr Shuchin Bajaj, who took my calls and explained me all the ways doctors use PPE and how we can improve our product. His chain of hospitals Ujala Cygnus was our first customer, his vote of confidence opened many doors
Learnings: The system indeed works if you know the doors you need to knock. People are interested in helping you if you are intent on helping others.
The journey thus far on the new categories, biggest takeouts, preparedness for the future...
In the last month we have provided PPE to many hospitals like Ujala Cygnus, Apollo, Faith Hospitals, Civil Hospital Faridabad, Govt. Of Meghalaya and many independent doctors, clinics and vets. So far we have delivered and booked orders for over 50,000 units of PPE. My target is 3 lakh this year in India and abroad. Next steps would be to deep dive, come up with more specialised solutions for doctors, vets, clinics. We need to get all proper certifications and really create a world class manufacturing facility for PPE in India so we never have to scramble for PPE again as a country. Self reliance is the ultimate goal.
What is the stimulus you believe is needed for life beyond the lockdown in the space?
There’s a need for investment in this sector. VC/PE need to look in this direction and put in their money so we can have the resources to compete at a global scale. More importantly, scientists, biologists, experts, chemical engineers, textile engineers and various industry and domain experts need to pool in their resources to work on some of these important projects. We can’t be a dumping ground for Chinese exports if we have to progress, or we will be consigned to a middle income trap for the next 30 years. We need a reset of ideas and action.
By when do you think we will see a return to business as usual?
Not till November 2020 for sure. Some things will bounce back, some things will reset. I frankly don’t pay attention to much except what I’m working on. Whatever comes our way, end of the day we have to deal with it. At this point all worry or hope is speculation.
You had international expansion plans - how will the future pivots change?
CREA will be a manufacturing giant from India, it will be known on a global stage for innovation and manufacturing excellence. We are working on that every day. Nothing Changes.