How can industrial parks maintain productivity during the pandemic?
- Build supply chain resiliency
- Keep worker safety in mind
- Consider flexible work arrangements
- Maintain clear communication
- Embrace innovation
- Have a plan for minimizing risks in the future
COVID-19 has resulted in a global crisis that is developing at an unprecedented speed and scale. No industry is immune to its impacts. Having said that, you will need to know how industrial parks can maintain productivity during the pandemic.
Companies face growing concerns over economic headwinds across the country. Industrial parks must act quickly to preserve the profitability of the business, stability of operations and safety of its employees. We’ve rounded up some ways to ramp up operations and ensure that firms sustain productivity.
Build Supply Chain Resiliency
If there’s one thing that COVID-19 taught us, it’s the importance of building resilient supply chains.
Exporting and distribution processes were disrupted because of widespread lockdowns and travel bans. With that in mind, industrial parks were pressured to enhance supply chain management capabilities.
To optimize the supply chains, monitor inventory efficiently. Keep track of all products not only for quality control but for adherence to safety requirements. These includes finished goods, extra stocks, and products that are in transit. Talk to suppliers to ensure that products are available and adheres to FDA if goods are consumable, especially during these pandemic times.
In addition, distribution capacity should be improved. Deliver products to the consumer without bottlenecks like freight clearances and insufficient workforce. These are the immediate factors to be considered in ensuring operational productivity.
Keep Worker Safety in Mind
The workers are what keep the company running and operating. Without them, productivity will suffer and operations may spiral down.
While it’s true that the priority of industrial parks has always been the safety of workers, this must be asserted even more to protect everyone from the risk of infection.
To achieve this in an industrial park setting, you can employ a set of health protocols for workers to follow. This includes:
- Proper and frequent handwashing
- Maintaining social distancing
- Wearing face masks and personal protective equipment
- Temperature checks
- Filling up symptom survey reports
Consider Flexible Work Arrangements
To ensure that productivity is not affected, industrial parks need to think about how to minimize the potential of infections even further.
We all know that the coronavirus is spread through close contact. This is why the Philippine government fully supported remote work. With that, it would be wise to adopt to flexible work arrangements to further impose social distancing practices.
Identify the “essential” on-site workers and let others work from home. The developments in technology paved the way for numerous video conferencing platforms. Ask the locators in the industrial park to take advantage of this technology.
For those working on-site, encourage staggered breaks, manage the daily workloads, and split shifts. Ensure that workers limit contact as much as possible. Insert partitions between workstations. If industrial parks exercise flexibility, they can operate productively.
Maintain Clear Communication
Ramping up communication is a key factor for any company to operate efficiently. If you establish clear communication, everyone will be on the same page. Without clarity, productivity is bound to suffer from costly miscommunication errors.
Address logistics expectations with suppliers. Communicate operational updates with investors. Accommodate infection risk concerns for workers.
Remember not to sugarcoat anything. Proactively talk to all stakeholders to prevent surprises. Establish a two-way communication about all the issues the industrial park might be facing from now on.
Embrace Innovation
The way industrial parks worked before may not be the best course to follow in the midst of a pandemic. Be ready to innovate when the situation calls for it. For example, if on-site workers function by molding products, 3D printers can take over to do the job. This will make way for social distancing as well.
Numerous industries are realizing the opportunity of integrating artificial intelligence into their systems. For instance, robots are now capable of consuming information for multiple IT processes. They can transfer big data and update consumer files easily. Moreover, they can predict consumer trends.
To ensure that productivity is at the core of industrial parks, innovation must be welcomed. This is especially true during the pandemic where worker movement and operations are limited.
Have A Plan For Minimizing Risks In The Future
No one ever expected that a pandemic would cause major economic and health impacts across the world. With that being said, it’s vital to plan for operational resiliency in the future. This will ensure that productivity is maintained long term.
Industrial parks must have a complete overview of their vulnerabilities that could jeopardize operations as much as the coronavirus has. Create a detailed response to all kinds of crisis scenarios.
Key Takeaway
If you’re wondering about how industrial parks can maintain productivity during the pandemic, we’ve stated the six ways to do so.
To ensure your company has a high productivity level, consider becoming a locator in an industrial park by Science Park of the Philippines (SPPI). Doing so offers the advantage of an on-site management team. Rest assured that our team will help to safeguard your business continuity.
Click here to learn more about the SPPI advantage today.
