Covid-19 has changed the way things function compared to the pre-pandemic world. These changes are also reflected in the manufacturing sector, where the regulations and security standards for products produced are very high.
The pandemic created challenges for the manufacturing industry in employee health, sanitation standards, and safety protocols. In addition, a shortage of vital equipment or material was also noticed during the pandemic. The manufacturing industry had to adjust and create new business practices to operate during the pandemic and remain impactful. In this article, we will discuss some of these practices.
Repurposing
As Covid-19 reached its peak, the healthcare and public sectors faced a significant shortage of critical supplies like ventilators, test kits, body bags, oximeters, and data loggers. To meet the increased global demands, the manufacturing industries repurposed their production and enhanced their production capacity.
Repurposing turned into a rapid response to address the shortage of necessary items by utilizing existing but underused manufacturing capacity. It is a temporary practice that involves challenges and higher costs but gives noticeable results.
Manufacturing units repurposed their establishments to emphasize national priorities and use their resources to create products that are facing a shortage and really needed by the world. For example, many car and machine manufacturing companies offered to produce ventilators when some countries faced a deficit during the pandemic.
Heading towards the cloud
The manufacturing industry has been slow in adapting to cloud technology. However, the pandemic created a need for the industry to overcome its insecurities regarding cloud storage and head towards a technologically advanced and integrated operations setup.
The pandemic made supply chain issues volatile. Manufacturing teams executed near-shoring, reshoring, and line moves along with other diverse supply chain methods. These practices contributed to enhancing their agility and preventing production stall-out. Due to this diversified approach, manufacturing units increased their inclination towards cloud-based tools for supply chain management and remote collaboration.
This change in the manufacturing best practices resulted from the pandemic, and it has also opened up the possibilities for better IT, management, and security assessments for manufacturing units. Moreover, some innovators suggest an increase in this tech-savvy approach in the coming future. As a result, more companies are focusing on developing automated cloud software for different business ventures and manufacturing enterprises.
Strict environmental monitoring
Manufacturing industries associated with healthcare and pharmaceuticals were on the frontline as the pandemic expanded globally. Vaccinations became a necessity, and governments worldwide raced to fund the development of safe vaccines for this new viral illness. Companies that manufactured, shipped, and stored vaccines adapted to strict environmental monitoring to maintain the efficacy of the vaccinations.
Moreover, the cold storage chains responsible for distributing and transporting the vaccines involved temperature and humidity control through data loggers. The use of infrared thermometers also increased in other industries to incorporate Covid-19 protection protocols and monitor workers’ body temperatures.
The use of protective gear has become prominent to prevent droplet exchange, and some companies have set up dedicated testing facilities to maintain safe environments. This has incurred additional costs, but it helps companies safeguard their workers and minimize production backlogs and labor shortages.
Mandating Physical Distancing
Companies added physical distancing in their formal manufacturing site guidelines to add more safety to their standard operating procedures at the worksite. Many companies have installed health surveillance systems to keep their staff safe from Covid-19. They also sanitize work stations, gear, and communal equipment and clean entire workplaces regularly.
Many HR policies have also made their way to the manufacturing practices like limiting direct employee contact with the products, additional safety measures to clean product surfaces and ensuring health provisions for workers like sick pay. Personnel whose absence will not impact the manufacturing or who can function remotely are encouraged to stay off-site to maintain physical distancing.
Digital screening
Numerous companies have begun engaging in digital health screenings for employees before entering the workstation. Companies have added health surveys to their on-site manufacturing routine. This helps them track infections and trace workers who come in contact with an infected worker. Many companies also maintain records of their worker’s travel history as a part of their efforts to avoid the risk of Covid-19 spread in their work area.
A shift from productivity towards flexibility
Manufacturing companies are creating a flexible work environment for the employees. Management is training staff to perform multiple tasks to limit the required workers and prevent large on-premise gatherings. Due to Covid-19, there have also been shortages in supply chains, raw material import, and goods export.
While companies are trying to recover as the pandemic drags on with a new variant, they have begun training staff on how to deal with changes in manufacturing supplies of raw material and how to multifunction in case entire departments become overwhelmed by Covid-19.
According to Dickson Data, the manufacturing industry is heavily regulated for food, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and aerospace sectors. These sectors need to perform a list of manufacturing practices to meet quality standards and requirements. Companies are also incentivizing employees who adhere to updated manufacturing practices and guidelines and continue to deliver quality work. Safety and reducing contagion have become primary concerns. As a result, companies are enforcing divided shift-based manufacturing to ensure social distancing and minimize the chances of a virus outbreak in their workspace.
As the pandemic spread across the globe, numerous businesses, offices, and markets suffered immensely. While many of these ventures stopped functioning, many decided to adapt alternate and safe work strategies.
Manufacturing companies associated with healthcare, pharma, and monitoring suffered the pressure to meet the constantly increasing demands of crucial supplies. These companies turned out to be highly flexible and fulfilled their demands by manufacturing much-needed supplies and coming through in healthcare for citizens leveled by Covid-19. Manufacturing companies produced vaccines for their own country and others as well.
Covid-19 has redefined the ways companies function. It has led to changes starting with management and going all the way to the manufacturing good practices. With the arrival of new variants, there is a strong possibility that the temporary strategies adapted for manufacturing goods during Covid-19 will become permanent in the coming years.
