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During these trying times when the industry is heavily affected with economical issues came up the pandemic called Covid 19 and disrupted the industry completely. We at Industrial Automation Magazine have taken an initiative to bring the industry together and share their viewpoints so that others reading can take measures accordingly to have minimal damage.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in interviews are personal, not necessarily of the organisations represented.
Susanto Banerjee An ex-CFO, an independent consultant on Financial and transformation space, founder of Ventures, a platform for theatre based behavioral coaching and pure play theatre and an associate to non profit development sector
Absolutely. The world has not seen a pandemic of this nature ever before. The experts do draw comparison with "Influenza" epidemic in early 20th century. But the world has changed, since then, significantly. In many ways the borders are no longer as discrete as it were before and free movement of people has proved to be a menace when the Corona Virus strain caught us. The unique characteristics of the virus together with its ability to spread fast and cause severe casualties including deaths have left the world scrambling for solutions
The world has come to realise how complex our supply chains had become. Efficient and effective use of resources across the globe to help the consumers, globally, access the best offerings delivered fast and at cheaper prices, have continuously added to these complexities over a period of time not only for products but also for services. Businesses, small, medium, large, not only support but are also dependent on these supply chains which are severely impacted as countries continue on lock down. The implications for Business will be directly related to the period of the lockdown and how the world is going to change in terms of people behavior and preferences as we ease out of Covid-19 pandemic. While a longer period of lockdown can potentially wipe out a lot of existing small businesses in the near term in multiple sectors as they are likely to starve from lack of capital and demand slump unless a comprehensive support is extended, the larger businesses will definitely be impacted on their top line and bottom line as demand curve will take some to go back up and/or supply lines to refuel. The medium to long term will see the world evolving as Covid-19 tension eases out potentially with new behaviors and preferences and we are likely to see supply chains adjusting to new ways and means to deliver and create a new normal.
The preparation for the future lies in the lessons that we have learnt in the current crisis ...
a) Communicable diseases need to be arrested at the point of origination asap and the world needs to be informed on a real time basis. Countries should build the right infrastructure under the leadership of WHO to identify, quarantine the source and share information.
b) Healthcare infrastructure including testing facilities have proved to be grossly inadequate. A more flexible model which can quickly ramp up will be ideal. Innovative testing methods should be incentivised.
c) Make people more aware of these communicable diseases and the precautions they should take once an alarm is set out.
d) Plan B for alternate indigenous supply chains for essentials and certain prioritised non essentials which are key GDP drivers should be developed and triggered if international chains are disrupted
e) Contingency fund for such eventualities should be initiated and the poor, small businesses should be supported. Efficient administration of these funds including disbursements should be effectively implemented so that the target groups for the benefits are identified quickly and resources reach them fast.
f) The effective measures taken by each country with their nuances as they apply to their citizens, should be well documented for future references.
Request the experts to evaluate and recommend.
There is no doubt that skeptics on work from home are turning around and seeing the benefits of this practice. In today's world its extremely difficult to draw a line between professional and personal time. People attend to professional emails while they have dinner. In a way, work from home is a practice which people have adopted even if some businesses haven't embraced it explicitly, The question is whether a fixed time for work from an office space where colleagues can work in close physical proximity, will still remain mandated. I guess, every business will have to figure it out. It may not be possible for some sectors which are predominantly brick and motor involving a tangible produce but for others, it will be a definite point to consider and may be, over time reduce investment on physical space.
Automation is a subject which has been in focus even in pre covid phase. I would assume that the scope for automation is a subject for discussion in every strategy meeting, be it for a country , a state or an enterprise. Covid-19 has taught us to embrace automation more and think innovatively to deliver our goals using technology and automated environments. As these automations evolve and become affordable, I would guess, people will be more willing to invest and implement.
3 key lessons learnt
a) Communicable diseases are best addressed if we can quarantine the source asap and inform the world real time
b) Healthcare infrastructure including testing facilities have proved to be grossly inadequate.
c) Poor level of awareness of social distancing and hygiene to protect from communicable diseases have come out loud and clear even in the developed world
#April 2020 Covid Special
To say the world is passing through trying times is to state the obvious. Also evident is the fact that for too long the world has been ignoring the warning signs of environmental degradation fuelled by human excesses and greed. But this is no time for ifs and buts, nor recrimination. Instead, the crisis should be used as an opportunity to make the required course correction to make the world a safer place for all living beings, and the ecological balance, restored.
Industrial Automation invited a cross section of industry leaders to offer their views and possible course of action as a way forward from this situation, even as governments across the world and the people are trying to make sense from the still evolving scenario.
To read the full cover story Please click here
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