As we enter into a new phase of our lockdown reality, I thought it would be interesting to write about the state of the manufacturing industry including the challenges trends and success stores we have seen.
Not being someone to dwell on the negative I believe we cannot escape the fact that many companies have had to close, specifically those in the Entertainment & Construction industries.
Many of these companies had to take the quick and difficult decision to temporarily close down as the lockdown closed the market virtually overnight.
However, other industries such as food production and medical device manufactures have seen a mini boom time for obvious reasons.
Everyone else in between has had a mixed experience with some holding up well whilst others struggle.
For those of us that are still operating what has been the biggest challenge? One of these would be the adaptation of working from home. This is not such a problem if you are office based however, for many production workers this is just not an option.
Working with social distancing is a real challenge but, it can be achieved by implementing things such as staged break times and the regular cleaning regime. We have implemented a system of gloves and face coverings at all times. This may not be government guidance, but it helps to make people feel safer at work.
Apart from people that are having to self-isolate or choose to for health reasons the general feeling across the industry is that people want to work.
The capacity in most factories and workshops have been reduced making the challenge of responding to urgent requests harder but at the same time anyone connected with the medical industries are making a Herculean effort to keep on top of things.
What are the positives? One positive aspect is the ability to work from home. While some will struggle with the loneliness of working away from the office for others, they have found they are much more productive with their time with less interruptions.
Other positives are we have come to be more respectful of each other. This includes both suppliers and customers. Rather than seeing someone as a person that works for a company we have started to think of them as individual human beings which can only be a good thing as after all we are all people and not the companies we work for.
How has the supply chain been affected? So far not too much disruption overall however, the affect of some suppliers closing will have a knock-on effect. For example, one company we know had an issue with a specialist plastic moulding injector choosing to close yet holds all the tools for moulding so unable to switch supplier.
Long term there will be no doubt supply issues where parts are freely available right now but this may not be the case in the future.
International supply chains have been working reasonably well and surprisingly the Far-East has done an amazing job to keeping going and the importing of materials have been very smooth. One exception to this is the cost of importing which has dramatically increased. However, in time I believe this will come down.
We have seen France have the biggest supply issues and found some components being built in France very hard to get. That said I have to say that this is only our experience.
One final thought about supply chains, is that for many years the electronics and manufacturing industries have relied on just in time processes. This is something I generally do not believe is a good strategy. With many companies not holding stock the sudden shock can leave them vulnerable and especially companies that have global supply chains.
It has been said many times that holding stock even a small amount will always buy you valuable time and enable you to perhaps buy in larger volumes and getting better prices.
What is the long-term effect of COVID-19? Hopefully a more compassionate and better society but specifically we believe that this will all end, and we will find a way to look back at what we have learned both from a practical and an emotional point of view.
Working from home may become more common place and future office and workshop designs may well include a more spaced out set up with more thought on social distance in the working place.
Most importantly let’s remember that we are all people having to deal with the usual daily challenges in what is extremely stressful times so remember, be kind, think positive and we will come out the other side better companies and better people!
A Blog on The Current the State of Electronics Manufacturing Industry.
As we enter into a new phase of our lockdown reality, I thought it would be interesting to write about the state of the manufacturing industry including the challenges trends and success stores we have seen.
Not being someone to dwell on the negative I believe we cannot escape the fact that many companies have had to close, specifically those in the Entertainment & Construction industries.
Many of these companies had to take the quick and difficult decision to temporarily close down as the lockdown closed the market virtually overnight.
However, other industries such as food production and medical device manufactures have seen a mini boom time for obvious reasons.
Everyone else in between has had a mixed experience with some holding up well whilst others struggle.
For those of us that are still operating what has been the biggest challenge? One of these would be the adaptation of working from home. This is not such a problem if you are office based however, for many production workers this is just not an option.
Working with social distancing is a real challenge but, it can be achieved by implementing things such as staged break times and the regular cleaning regime. We have implemented a system of gloves and face coverings at all times. This may not be government guidance, but it helps to make people feel safer at work.
Apart from people that are having to self-isolate or choose to for health reasons the general feeling across the industry is that people want to work.
The capacity in most factories and workshops have been reduced making the challenge of responding to urgent requests harder but at the same time anyone connected with the medical industries are making a Herculean effort to keep on top of things.
What are the positives? One positive aspect is the ability to work from home. While some will struggle with the loneliness of working away from the office for others, they have found they are much more productive with their time with less interruptions.
Other positives are we have come to be more respectful of each other. This includes both suppliers and customers. Rather than seeing someone as a person that works for a company we have started to think of them as individual human beings which can only be a good thing as after all we are all people and not the companies we work for.
How has the supply chain been affected? So far not too much disruption overall however, the affect of some suppliers closing will have a knock-on effect. For example, one company we know had an issue with a specialist plastic moulding injector choosing to close yet holds all the tools for moulding so unable to switch supplier.
Long term there will be no doubt supply issues where parts are freely available right now but this may not be the case in the future.
International supply chains have been working reasonably well and surprisingly the Far-East has done an amazing job to keeping going and the importing of materials have been very smooth. One exception to this is the cost of importing which has dramatically increased. However, in time I believe this will come down.
We have seen France have the biggest supply issues and found some components being built in France very hard to get. That said I have to say that this is only our experience.
One final thought about supply chains, is that for many years the electronics and manufacturing industries have relied on just in time processes. This is something I generally do not believe is a good strategy. With many companies not holding stock the sudden shock can leave them vulnerable and especially companies that have global supply chains.
It has been said many times that holding stock even a small amount will always buy you valuable time and enable you to perhaps buy in larger volumes and getting better prices.
What is the long-term effect of COVID-19? Hopefully a more compassionate and better society but specifically we believe that this will all end, and we will find a way to look back at what we have learned both from a practical and an emotional point of view.
Working from home may become more common place and future office and workshop designs may well include a more spaced out set up with more thought on social distance in the working place.
Most importantly let’s remember that we are all people having to deal with the usual daily challenges in what is extremely stressful times so remember, be kind, think positive and we will come out the other side better companies and better people!
Nicab blog
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