A year of trials and tribulations
2020 is one of those years that most people would like to forget! An international pandemic, tinged with fear, panic and most notably many restrictions on daily life, was but the start. The residual effects of the pandemic and subsequent international lockdown regulations will be with us for a long time to come. Staying positive and motivated in a time like this is especially hard where the whole world seems to have gone crazy and is turned upside down.
The subsequent economic and social effects of the pandemic remain with us even on Lockdown Level 1 and will probably worsen before it gets better in months to come. Industries like tourism, travel and entertainment remain highly stressed as can be attested to by anyone who braved air travel recently. Eerily empty parking lots at the airports followed by flights that are few and far between and airplanes filled to the brim to try and salvage those brave airline operators that are active.
Political uncertainty also played a role with politicians the world over having to adapt to this crisis and the new rules that had to be put in place and enforced. Being human, one can understand the difficulty in making high level decisions during this type of crisis.
The electronics industry as such is not exempt from economic downturns or global pandemics. It does, however, seem to be more resilient in the face of such disasters. Much like everyday consumer items such as deodorant or canned foods, electronics have become a part of daily life. Interest in electronics manufacturing services remains as strong, if not stronger than ever. The Omnigo procurement team would probably ask you “what lockdown”? They have been working non-stop to try and achieve deadlines and ensure we are able to provide material in time to keep the production line pumping.
Counterintuitively it seems that our industry is alive and kicking and Omnigo has been inundated with queries and requests for quotations. This is certainly promising and hopefully the electronics and larger technology industries should be able to navigate the treacherous post-COVID landscape largely unscathed.
A burden shared…
The end of our financial year at the end of September has caused me to reflect on a challenging yet exciting year in our 21-year history. The challenges seemed insurmountable at the start of this calendar year, yet we all survived and even flourished under these circumstances. It amazes me how much business optimism there still is under these trying circumstances and how well people adapt to their circumstances.
Omnigo, as any responsible company would do, instituted strict preventive measures to prevent the spread of the disease in our factory and although we were able to open earlier than expected, we thankfully had no serious cases of COVID-19. This is once again a testament to the strict discipline that Omnigo staff have and their dedication to following the rules laid out to protect everyone. These measures certainly added to the stress that everyone experienced during this trying time trying to get used to the new ‘normal’.
Due to the time lost earlier in the year the Omnigo team was under pressure to execute the orders we had. The logistical problems that arose due to the pandemic added to these delays. Yet even under these difficult circumstances the team pulled together, and they exceeded all my expectations. I guess it seemed a little easier for everyone to deal with the masks, sanitiser, curfew, additional pressure and social distancing because we were all in it together. The ones who adapted the easiest to this new normal were, as always, the children who went to school wearing masks and probably terrorised their teachers by breaching social distancing rules.
Pushing boundaries while remaining dependable
One of the things that can alleviate stress and hardship caused by the uncertainty of such turbulent times is stability. The stability of specific things in life that one can trust, depend and fall back on provides comfort that at least there are some things that you can rely on.
This very human trait also spills through in business where relationships and performance are the keys to success. Stability does not mean that one must stop changing and evolving. It merely means that there is predictability in your performance, integrity and values. Stability ensures that your customers know they can trust you to be the ‘eye of the storm’ where it is calm and stable. Stability conveys a sense of capability and dependability that one can rely on.
A trusted and stable manufacturing partner greatly relieves the pressure in uncertain times for OEMs and development houses. Similarly, for Omnigo it helped that we have a stable workforce, loyal customer base, support from our parent company Reutech and trusted suppliers that were able to help us through these trying times. This allowed us to continue innovating and improve our service offering to our clients.
Companies do not do business, people do business. Time and time again this has proven to be true in our relationships with our customers. Being fortunate to have such excellent partners in business has proven to carry us through these trying times. This has inspired us to improve our service delivery and double our efforts to repay the loyalty that our business partners show every day.
Omnigo wants to thank all our customers, suppliers and other partners for supporting us through these trying times and sharing the burden with each other!
| Tel: | +27 12 803 8218 |
| Email: | [email protected] |
| www: | www.omnigo.co.za |
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