I recently finished reading a book called “Endurance”, the story of explorer Sir Earnest Shackleton. The book details the “failed” voyage and struggle of the ship’s crew after their vessel was overcome and crushed by ice floes in the Weddell Sea leaving all aboard stranded on the pack ice.
The crew was left to redefine their survival approach as they camped on sea ice until it melted. They built and deployed small lifeboats which enabled them to reach Elephant Island. Once stranded on land, the crew constructed one durable but small lifeboat capable of sailing only a handful of crew members. While a handful of crew sailed in search of safety, the remaining crew was left behind in challenging subzero temperatures and desolate conditions. After a long and bleak three months, Shackleton was able to rescue the remaining crew members left behind. In total, the crew survived more than seven months in isolation since the sinking of the original ship (Endurance).
The resourcefulness the crew exhibited in pursuit of food (hunting penguins, seals and albatross) and building shelter out of the destroyed and partially sunken ship while remaining positive in outrageously difficult sub-arctic conditions (100 mile per hour winds, in wet conditions), was fascinating and a real testament to strong leadership, commitment, and the ability to adapt to an ever-changing world.
YOU, AND OUR COMPANY, HAVE ENDURED 2020. We have lived through one of the most challenging and trying years that we may encounter in all our lives. We have evolved with changing conditions to address personal and customer needs. We have taken steps to do things differently and adapted when needed. As a company, we have secured some wonderful wins; we have developed some very interesting new products and we have learned how to successfully run our plants and grow our footprint without support from external resources.
As essential workers, we have endured and continued to focus on the importance of collaboration even as in person interaction was restricted. We have stood on the frontlines and have strictly adhered to guidelines, practiced social distancing and exercised additional hygiene precautions to continue delivering quality packaging to the industries fighting COVID-19 and providing essential goods to consumers. I hope that during this unprecedented time, you have learned things about yourself, and our company, that you didn’t imagine existed. I hope that you feel good about our accomplishments. It’s by leveraging these accomplishments that we can learn and do things better in 2021.
2021 will bring new challenges but I know we will continue to endure as we make our company and ourselves stronger. Thanks for all you do at Mauser Packaging Solutions. I wish you and your families a happy and SAFE holiday season.
Mark Burgess
President and CEO