An Overview of the Manufacturing Disruption During Covid-19 Pandemic
                     An Overview of the Manufacturing 
Disruption During Covid-19 Pandemic
Anthea Johnson
Writer at Knowledge-peak.com 
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The rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic came as a heavy disaster to 
the world economy. The manufacturing sector in India had come to a near 
standstill. Regular lockdowns severely impacted manufacturing activities 
not only in India but across the globe, thereby disrupting the overall 
economy. Several factories were shuttered due to Government restrictions 
and failing demands, while few others were facing a significant upsurge 
in demand for essential supplies.
The impact of the immediate crisis:
While India fairly recovered from the first wave, however, the second 
wave hit the country hardest in terms of fatalities. The second wave led to 
more restrictions on businesses – a slowdown in labor-intensive 
industries, including manufacturing, construction, and infrastructure, due 
to the reduced labor availability during the pandemic.
First wave:
During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the lockdown imposed 
restrictions on the movement of people and products, impacting 
workforce capacity and disrupting the supply chain on a large scale, 
thereby making nearly all manufacturing work languish.
To add more, the manufacturing sector was affected in several ways 
during the outbreak of COVID-19 – low-scale operations that negatively 
impacted production volumes, liquidity crunch, capacity underutilization, 
weaker demand, labor shortage, and special regulatory restrictions. It 
ultimately affected the turnover and revenue of the companies.
Import of heavy machinery and equipment on which India’s 
manufacturing industries are dependent has been shrinking. 
The production cuts in the manufacturing sector also suspended the 
leading operations of Micro, Small, and Medium ventures occupied in 
small spare parts manufacturing. A large chunk of manufacturing workers 
returned to their nativity because of the uncertainties and lack of income 
due to the sporadic lockdown imposed in the country.
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) 
conducted a survey that shows that manufacturing in India nearly stopped 
post the imposition of the lockdown last year, except for the rice milling 
sector. However, the production of rice reportedly dropped by half.
Other manufacturing industries severely affected by the COVID-19 
pandemic were metals and chemical products, automotive, motor 
vehicles, textiles, machinery and equipment, and many more to add. Most 
importantly, people lost their jobs, as a direct outcome of the COVID-19 
pandemic.
Second waves
The country’s hope for recovery was thrust into further uncertainty as 
cases increased rapidly toward the end of the 2020 financial year. As 
several states reimposed lockdowns and restrictions to mitigate the loss of 
life in the second wave, the manufacturing sector further got hit. The 
widespread devastation instilled fear among people. It led to individuals 
being confined to their homes, more out of fear. As a result, the demand 
for petrol and diesel dropped massively. The number of people working 
during the second wave was much smaller compared to the first wave, 
which translated to slower economic recovery.
The announcement of multiple lockdowns continued to sluggish or even 
temporarily stopped the flow of raw materials and finished goods, thereby 
extensively disrupting the manufacturing sector.
COVID-19 impact on supply-chain:
Companies reported that the pandemic played havoc with their workforce. 
While corporate employees were asked to work from home, the same 
could not be implemented for factory workers. As a result, high-tech 
manufacturing industries and industrial products are labor-intensive 
industries that had to stop their operational functions to reduce worker 
exposure to COVID-19.
The situation had severe implications for the demand and supply chains 
underpinning manufacturing operations. In short, the manufacturing units 
and the production networks failed to withstand the pressure of 
lockdowns and other safety protocols.
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