Front End I Electronic Components Supply Network Emerging from lockdown
The ancient Greek philosopher Plato is credited with writing that “necessity is the mother of invention” to explain the creativity and ingenuity that people are capable of when faced with seemingly insurmountable difficulties. The last ten weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown has certainly presented a myriad of difficulties to members of the Electronic Components Supply Network (ecsn), their customers and their supplier partners, which they have courageously tackled but a real creative effort will be needed as companies begin to emerge from lockdown and strive to navigate their way through a very different business environment. In this article ecsn Chairman Adam Fletcher reviews some of the recent ‘challenges’ experienced by ecsn members and outlines their aspirations for the future
Virtual communication In common with many others industry folks I’m not missing the continual grind of travel by plane, train and automobile, be it for the commute to work or the hitherto business imperative to meet with colleagues, customers and suppliers. I am however missing the personal interface I used to enjoy with the wide range of great people I’d meet in our industry, and the many positive learning experiences and fun times I’ve garnered along the way. Everybody in the global electronics market across all functional roles and disciplines have been fairly equally impacted by their governments’ particular ‘lockdown’ directives and out of necessity have needed to rapidly adopt new distance skill sets in order to continue effective internal and external engagement. Developments that would have taken years in normal market conditions has been achieved in weeks using a wide variety of digital platforms, ranging, from clear and unambiguous text messages to complex integrated products like ‘Teams’ and other bespoke internal tools, via ‘WhatsApp’ ‘Skype’ and ‘Zoom’. The in-house IT expertise employed by many ecsn members have empowered their employees to quickly get up to speed with unfamiliar tools especially the newer and more complex technologies and have helped deliver a significant competitive advantage for their organisations.
Virtual meetings improve effectiveness
In the UK many members of the ecsn Leadership Group were unsettled to see many of their colleagues leave the office in March and April carrying their
10 June 2020
computers, monitors, company documents and equipment (and some with their desks and chairs as well!) but were reassured when it was reported that they were set up and operating on-line from their home offices within a couple of days. Members have generally reported that their experience of this upheaval has been far better than their initial expectations, and the enhanced communication with colleagues, suppliers and customers that has resulted is seen as a big ‘plus’. This is probably due, at least in part, to the fact that the swinging restrictions on travel has kept most people at their desks where they have been able to locate and quickly engage with colleagues, customers and suppliers to best effect. The ability to quickly pull into the ‘conversation’ a wide range of colleagues in order to definitively resolve issues arising has been a great time saver for all.
Virtual customer visits have been particularly effective: Pre-lockdown a salesman/applications engineer would typically only be able to conduct perhaps two, three or maybe four on-site meetings per day due to the travelling time involved but with the introduction of distance conferencing its now easily possible to hold up to eight virtual meetings per day. And where a contribution from a subject matter expert is required, its quick and easy to get them to ‘pop’ into the virtual visit and share their expertise before moving on. ecsn members report being impressed by how well most of their customers have adapted to the new environment, especially their design engineering teams who seemingly have continue to have access to an impressive range of equipment and resources even though they are working from home. I’m assuming that customers
Components in Electronics
must also be benefiting from the rapid introduction of new working practices that have apparently also boosted their communications effectiveness.
Emerging from lockdown It has become increasingly obvious to many organisations in the electronic components supply network that many of their employees would like to see the mix of home and organisational office working continue post lockdown. With the likely extension of current social distancing rules (albeit slightly relaxed) such a move will help maintain good office practice and will boost employee contentment, so is it a win for all parties? Any permanent changes to established working practices will need to be handled carefully. Guidance rules need to be carefully considered, drafted and agreed before being applied fairly and appropriately to all affected employees. This will take some time and effort and will I’m sure be highly dependent on the dynamics of a changing competitive landscape in the market(s) in which an organisation operates. For the last ten weeks the competitive landscape has been fairly static but as organisations seek to gain competitive advantage this will all change.
Organisations in the electronic components supply network operate in what is essentially a highly competitive ‘customer service business’ in which the wishes and needs of their customers are paramount. As a result, the deployment of people and systems used by organisations to serve the market will to a large extent be determined by what the customers demand. It is not obvious at this point what the outcome will be but those organisations with robust systems, sound finances and motivated people willing to go the extra mile for their customers will be best
positioned to progress. Fortunately, there is likely to be a wide spectrum of customer demands and as a result there will be many organisations with the wherewithal to meet different aspects of these needs. Not all needs will be met of course, but that’s the nature of competitive market.
Concluding thoughts
Whilst I fully expect that business travel will increase (not altogether a bad thing), hopefully it will not return to pre-Covid-19 levels. Necessity has convinced companies that the use of technology is both a more effective and a more efficient use of scarce resources for all parties in the market, to say nothing about the improvement to the global environment. As we exit lockdown new challenges within the electronic components supply network will quickly emerge but it’s how organisations adapt to these market changes between now and the end of the year that will have a significant effect on the outcomes for individuals and the organisations that employ them. I encourage your organisation to engage and collaborate effectively both up and down your supply network, it costs little yet promises help for everyone…
ecsn-uk.org
Adam Fletcher is Chairman of the Electronic Components Supply Network (ecsn), a business association established in 1970 that today offers support to all organisations with an interest in electronic components throughout their entire lifecycle. He is also Chairman of the International Distribution of Electronics Association (IDEA), an association of individual country electronic components associations whose objective is to share best industry practice.
www.cieonline.co.uk
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