Not The Reading Room – from Lockdown

Strange days indeed! Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) is completely dominating the headline, so we’re shifting this Friday slot to focus on that topic. Everyone has their own source for numbers, so we won’t cover that. We will try to cover what it all means for the industry.

It’s been an interesting week as the debate shifts from the urgent to the important, and rapid response is replaced by reflection and plans for recovery. Now is the time to be thinking about the medium and long term impact for businesses in the electronics space. This crisis will change some things forever and those changes need to be planned for by OEMs, by manufacturers, and of course, by those who supply manufacturers with equipment, consumables and software. I suspect a big part of this will be digital transformation as we search for the ideal manufacturing ecosystem and supply chain for the future.

• I’ve been learning what executives in the industry think as I conduct a series EMS@C-LEVEL interviews. So far, I’ve interviewed C-suite executives, from Plexus, Kimball, Virtex, MicroArt, MacroFab, Aegis, Koh Young, CalucQuote, MTEK and Season Group. This afternoon I am talking to Katek and through next week there are more to come from AsteelFlash, Indium, Omnic and Printor.
• I also hosted a webinar with Misha Govshteyn and Dave Evans, CEO’s of MarcoFab and Fictiv respectively. That was a great conversation, entitled, Building Supply Chain Resiliency and it is well worth watching the recording. And yesterday I was on The Eric Miscoll Show with Don Akery of TTI and Chintan Sutaria of CalcuQuote discussing the disruption to, and future of, the component supply chain. This show will be aired here right after the Memorial Day weekend. Happy Memorial Day!
• This coming week I am also very excited to be co-hosted a new weekly show called “Made In” with Ron Keith of the Supply Chain Resources Group. Our first guest will be Mike McNamara, Chairman of PCH International and former CEO of FLEX. There are equally big names planned for future episodes.
• I was excited to see Bono involved in the supply chain and name dropping Liam Casey as Mr China, adding, “He was like Indiana Jones- it was something like Raiders of the Lost PPE”. Read more in The Corkman, Bono praises Donoughmore’s ‘Mr China’ for sourcing vital PPE. “It was really difficult, but with the help of Liam Casey the band managed to secure 20 million masks, 100,000 goggles and 30,000 gowns. In truth, it’s a small contribution,” said Bono.
• My favorite Swede, Mattias Andersson has been busy this week, with a lead in The Robot Report, exploring “How robots can help manufacturers adapt post COVID-19”, and his feature here in EMSNOW, entitled “The Digital Transformation of Manufacturing in a Post Pandemic World”. All in the week MTEK came out of stealth mode to launch the MCell Insertion.
• According to Thomas Insights, “COVID-19 Could Spark Faster Adoption of Mobile Robotics”. As the world enters a recession amid dramatic efforts to halt the coronavirus outbreak, a new report suggests the pandemic could prompt the market to embrace robotics more quickly than previously forecast.
• And while we’re on robots, another piece on The Robots Report from Fictiv COO Jean Olivieri, explore the “4 types of robots playing vital roles during COVID-19”.
• In an article in Industry Week entitled, “The Sputtering Road to Recovery”. Stephan Gold explains why manufacturers will be living with the outcome for years to come.
• I really enjoyed this article from Dave Evans, Fictiv CEO and regular Forbes contributor, entitled “Post COVID-19, The Answer Is Digital Transformation, Now What’s The Question?” He writes, “As we move from reeling to reflecting on the disruptions we’ve seen to the world of manufacturing and supply chain courtesy of Novel Coronavirus COVID-19, there are numerous questions being asked in boardrooms, on earnings calls, in the media, and in government. The answer to all those questions is digital transformation.”
• For a real deep dive, check this out from Forbes contributor, Marco Annunziata. Covid-19: The Unintended Long-Term Consequences Of The Policy Response. Macro is one of my favorite writers and really understands manufacturing, technology, supply chain and economics, a rare combination.
• And it looks like The Cloud is where it’s at. WIRED Magazine explains why, “On Earth, the Economy Is Tanking. In the Cloud, It’s Fine”. Amid the pandemic, life has moved online. That’s good news for the tech giants that run data centers, and the companies that supply them.

And that’s the SCOOP for this week. Stay safe, talk to friends, ask for help, your network has never been more valuable!!