Like many of you, I continue to ask myself if and what will undergo definitive changes once the health emergency is over.
Will we go back to work with the same dynamics? Will we encounter the same problems we had before? Or will this pandemic bring upheavals that require definitive adjustments and not just temporary ones?
I would like to share with you some of the many aspects that spring to mind to try to imagine how manufacturing could change in the post Covid-19 period.
SMART WORKING
Let’s look at smart working, for instance. Whether we like it or not, we have all found ourselves having to deal with this work mode that up until now, in Italy at least, had never been viewed in a positive manner and subsequently has been adopted by very few enterprises. So what will happen to the smart working regime when the health emergency is over? Will employees return to clocking in or will new working standards be set focused more on the fulfilment of targets rather than on the physical presence in the company?
MEETINGS
I have already commented on this and I will repeat it again: face-to-face contact with colleagues, collaborators and, more generally, with all the professional experts we are accustomed to meeting on a daily basis, is fundamental in certain cases. If for no other reason than some physiological limitations that technology, however advanced and state-of-the-art it may be, inevitably poses.
It is true however that many work meetings could be avoided and replaced by conference call which would save time, costs and – why not – also travel related risks. Some enterprises have already embraced this culture, others less so or not at all. What will change in the post Covid-19 era?
ECOMMERCE AND ONLINE SALES
The health emergency has led many people to start shopping online. A habit that will, more than likely, remain in the long term. It would be worthwhile, therefore, to evaluate the e-commerce concept and the possibility of selling online more thoroughly, rethinking the sales structures adopted by our enterprises (whether B2B or B2C), our web sites and online catalogues.
INSURANCE POLICIES AND EMERGENCY PROVISIONS
Whilst things go more or less well, one tends to reason without taking account apocalyptic scenarios. We feared an economic crisis induced by the automotive sector in Germany (and in fact, although to a lesser extent, some were already feeling the effects) and we were planning to manage it as best as possible. But then we found ourselves having to face something of huge global impact that inevitably no-one could have ever envisaged.
So what should we do in future? Take out specific insurance policies for employees and for businesses that take into account a much broader spectrum of factors and possibilities? I, for instance, have already received some proposals of this kind.
And, likewise, perhaps we should also consider the eventuality of prolonged production stoppages (like those seen in recent weeks) in our financial analysis and, if necessary and possible, envisage accruals for emergency provisions.
CONTRACTS
The various contracts we adopt will also certainly need to be reviewed. On the one hand those signed with customers, who will have to factor in possible prolonged production stoppages, including pandemics as a “force majeure” event.
On the other hand those signed with hauliers, that require a redefinition of responsibilities and absolute priority for the carriage of material intended for specific sectors (such as the medical, defence or avionic sectors).
There is also another area which is exceptionally important, that of INVENTORY and SUPPLY CHAINS. But I think that, given the many aspects this area involves, it would be best to draw up a separate post.
