The COVID-19 crisis has been clear, WE MUST UPDATE THE INDUSTRY.
This crisis that has hit us at once, has shown that not much of society, nor of the business fabric, were prepared for change. We are not flexible, nor are we agile.
Beyond the social part, the industrial fabric has been affected by the interdependence generated by the productive model not only in Spain, but also worldwide. Interdependence that is aggravated when a large part of certain sectors are monopolized by a few “big”, mammoth organizations that in most situations lack agility.
And I say most, because it is not always like that. There are companies that did their homework in their day, and updated their structures to give them more capacity and less dependency, weaving a more robust network not only of suppliers, but also within their company.
In this update we are talking about, we broadly differentiate large companies -which saw it coming-, others that neither saw it-nor wanted-, and small companies that were either part of the vanguard or knew that they could not compete with the most established or established and fourthly, those who “have been working like this all their lives.” It is the latter that have suffered very much from the “coronavirus bump”, because although a large company has the economic capacity and muscle to endure or move, the SMEs of the “always like this it has been good for me”, have seen themselves in the position of that the world has suddenly changed around him and the world will no longer be the same.
We are in an era in which speed and agility are paramount, because otherwise your products will always be late for everything. Reaching a market already collapsed by the fastest ones, or simply your sector when changing, disappears and your niche stops being profitable.
The digitization of companies provides us with that agility, facilitates a diagnosis of what is happening around us, provides us with the ability to quickly change products, improve it, optimize it, update it to the new needs of our customers, to make our productive capacity, to reduce costs. In general, to continue on the wave, without later having to regret it.
The technologies of always are still valid, but we have technologies that complement them. Today we can get products out in weeks, which previously took months. Today we can design manufacturable products without depending on the “big Chinese factory”.
Today we can do so many things and so close, that sometimes I put my hands to my head when we insist on making use of those “blocked” links in the chain, having opportunities with the “3B” (good, beautiful and cheap) close by. From home.
Digitization is there, and whoever denies it will be left behind. But more than digitization, I would call it Updating, Optimization, Streamlining, because we must not forget that digital is a part of the entire process that makes us more agile and optimal.
And how is all this approached? Well, with GANAS, observing, listening, and above all acting.
There are many companies, specialists in technologies that can help the SME sector to update, but it takes desire. Because there is money, from Europe, the central government, the Autonomous Government, etc. We just have to, like we have a nutritionist or a coach, we have those companies that, like Ennde, help us to get our products faster, more agile, more optimal. That they work hand in hand with us, with our technical office, that they bring us their experience in different sectors and apply them to ours. In short, that I work as a team to continue growing. That in these times can be the difference between survival or closure.
As the saying goes, “Shrimp that falls asleep, is carried by the current.” Don’t let this one take us!
