The world has not yet recovered from the problems associated with the COVID-19 epidemic, and a worse nightmare has appeared on the horizon. War, because we are talking about it, is an absolute moral, social, political and business gamechanger. The current events will shake the whole world for a long time, from Spitzbergen to Cape of Good Hope. War and business often go hand in hand, but it may turn out that now the world will do everything to avoid it.
Sanctions
Economic pressures have always been circumvented. This was the case after most of Putin’s wars – sanctions included trifles, while technologies continued to go east, enriching the rich from Germany and France. War is a powerful business – journalists confirm the sale of weapons to Russia from both these countries. However, sanctions are currently the only weapons of distant destruction that can be used by the countries of the world.
Economic problems
Unfortunately, it is not without repercussions that the economic problems are growing every day, engulfing not only Russia, but also its neighbors and the largest economic partners. In addition, it is difficult to estimate the impact on global markets of unmet demand for oil, gas, rare earths, gold or palladium (used as a platinum replacement in microprocessors and car catalysts) will be.
New hands to work
We have become accustomed to the fact that Ukrainians work in Poland – in metropolises they already constitute a large percentage of residents. The current war has already caused more than 2 million people to cross our border. Most of them are children with moms, but they will still want to work. Some of the refugees will go further, some will return to Ukraine after the end of the war. The country will have to be rebuilt, so some of the men who left to fight will not return to Polish. However, new hands to work may run out, and then we will reach further east – to India, through Vietnam to China or Thailand.
Investments
The value chains that were temporarily patched after the pandemic have once again been broken. It is difficult to estimate how long it will take for a partial return to normality even if the war ends. The 3rd week of the war has passed, and automotive is closing factories due to the lack of parts imported from Ukraine. So what can you expect from such an unstable environment. Part of the investment will certainly be frozen. However, those implementations that have exceeded a certain budget threshold (e.g. significant purchases have already been made) will certainly continue, although with a correction of deadlines.
People or robots
Cheap labor and blocking investment outweigh the balance towards the lack of automation. Question- “people or robots?” it begins to have a slightly different dimension. Implementing innovations without components is very difficult, if not impossible. The turn of 2021 and 22 was clearly a boom in automation. Unfortunately, Putin’s war with Ukraine has destroyed many plans. The announced reliefs for robotization, innovation and innovative employees may not convince business owners, the more so because the supply of electronics or industrial automation increases from a few days to several months,
The coronavirus hasn’t said the last sentence yet either. Currently, the number of infections in China is increasing. How will war and business affect the modern world? For now, nothing is a foregone conclusion.
How to deal with the collapse in the industrial market :
– modifications of products so as to slightly reduce functionality and omit inaccessible components,
– extension of implementation projects,
– simplification of implemented projects while leaving “space” for upgrade
– refurbishment – buy used goods and products, renovate and re-circulate,
– minimization of functions – production of goods with basic functionality and temporary withdrawal from the offer.
V AiR Conference
The Automation and Robotization of Industry conference has already been held twice in the shadow of COVID. Although this technological event, we reacted to the needs of manufacturing companies on an ongoing basis. The current economic situation is unprecedented in the recent history of Polish. The V AiR Conference will certainly answer the question – how to deal with “today”, how to plan development for “tomorrow” so as not to lose potential.
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