How COVID-19 has transformed the way manufacturers operate

By Jon Tudor, Visiting Research Fellow, and David Bamford, Professor of Operations Management, at Manchester Metropolitan University.

As the COVID-19 pandemic began, food manufacturers experienced massive increases in customer demand as the population stopped eating out and remained at home.

From pasta to yoghurt, many supermarkets experienced shortages as demand for products surged.

To respond to this increase in demand, food manufacturers requested that the supermarkets streamline the number of product line variations. For example, a certain flavour of yoghurt no longer needed to be available in multiple sizes or batches.

Operationally, by minimising the number of packaging options, overall output would increase as line stoppages for filling and packaging changes would be reduced, resulting in greater output to meet demand.

Such an operational request for a change in production would historically take months for approval. However, in the first month of the UK’s lockdown such decisions in manufacturing firms across the country were taken in days.

Responding to change

Leading up to and during the first week of the lockdown, businesses were responding to changes in government guidelines daily and, at times, hourly.

Agreeing who was deemed an ‘essential worker’ and which industries were regarded as a ‘key sector’ changed day by day.

Companies had to decide quickly what type of personal protective equipment (PPE) they should use, what social distancing measures they should implement and which workers should work from home. Each one of these announcements required actions and implementations at a rapid pace.

To manage such rapid changes and demands in the workplace, many companies created ‘Covid Task Groups’. Typically consisting of senior leadership, operations, HR, health and safety and supply chain experts, their purpose was to make quick decisions to remove any roadblocks in decision making to enable work to continue with the least interruptions.

Often meeting two to three times a day, this leadership level group allowed for rapid decision making to maintain the work and keep the business as agile as possible in continually changing circumstances.

Poor systems and processes exposed

Social distancing measures and stay at home orders within companies meant daily operational management systems were greatly affected.

Non-direct production workers were no longer able to participate in daily management meetings due to stay at home orders. Two-metre social distancing rules meant that the number of people who could attend meetings was also limited to key members.

The cumulative effect on the non-physical gatherings of personnel meant that key information was often not being passed between teams and departments.

The formal and informal information channels had broken down. Bumping into a colleague in the corridor on the way to a team meeting and sharing a key piece of information was now missing in daily operations.

This exposed poor performing management systems in which key daily targets, priorities and issues were not captured in effective management systems, so were unable to be communicated widely across the company.

This necessitated a major change in the rapid adoption of digital tools to allow workers to fully collaborate with not just projects, but day to day operational tasks. Most companies found that their existing software and IT systems had these functionalities already in them. This was almost an overnight digital transformation for many businesses.

Dealing with uncertainty

A major challenge at the beginning of the crisis was managing workers’ fear, anxiety and anger in the workplace.

A major escalation point witnessed at the beginning of lockdown was the differing definition of ‘essential and key sectors’ between management and some workers – and resulted in significant tension in some workplaces.

For example, a UK electronics manufacturer which exported 99% of its finished goods into the gaming industry had workers asking to be sent home and furloughed as they felt they were not essential and didn’t need to be at work.

The management had genuine fears that that once it closed its production facility, customers would look to other places such as Asia, which were less affected, for alternative suppliers. Management believed that once the plant was closed for an unknown period, there was a real danger it would never open again.

Dealing with the uncertainty of how to deal with an ever-changing working situation exhibited real examples of fight, flight and freeze in many businesses.

Leaders noted that some individuals who had never stood out before instantly dealt with problems suddenly presented, meeting each challenge head on. At the same time some workers, including managers, simply ‘froze’ when presented with major unforeseen challenges, unable to make decisions and requiring other colleagues to direct them.

Finally, we had examples of workers who, when faced with mounting challenges, hid from the challenges, by either going home and refusing to work, or simply avoiding getting involved in any of the issues.

An appetite for change

Change has always been difficult to sustain, but now we are in the position to make effective change happen as there is an appetite from leaders through to managers to make rapid and agile changes in the organisation.

UK manufacturers are prepared for the future as the need for companies to continue the agile transformation of operations has accelerated over 2021 due to unprecedented supply chain disruptions.

From HGV driver shortages to the so-called ‘Pingdemic’, the need for change and adaptability has been heightened in order to adapt to continually changing working conditions. 

Many businesses are opting to maintain Covid restrictions. Companies such as Ricoh, Milliken and other manufacturers are maintaining working from home for those who want to, encouraging only essential staff to be on site. Social distancing is still in place and mandatory mask wearing is common practice for UK manufacturers.

The majority of manufacturers are still uncertain when it comes to relaxing Covid-working practices. Consultancy firm True North Excellence recently conducted a survey in which 85% of manufacturers reported restricting staff to essential travel only and were likely to for some time ahead.

Many companies are forecasting several years before global supply chains become stable again. As a result, maintaining new approaches to agile working will be the norm for some time before consumers reap the benefits of the increased adoption of digital tools that will enable greater value and choice.