Navigating the COVID-19 Crisis

Many of you are working from home this week, some for the first time. As a veteran of this challenge, I hope you are able to avoid distractions and accomplish your goals. My first “work from home” experiences were in addition to putting in a full day in the office/shop. My family had to get used to “work” overlapping into family time when deadlines loomed. Sometimes, the mind would not shut off and went into problem solving mode outside of office hours. A good night’s “sleep” solves many difficult problems if you can remember the solution when you wake up. The COVID-19 crisis is an entirely new situation for our “connected” 24/7/365 world; a great test of the idea that the Internet makes location irrelevant. Theoretically, we can work together on projects despite being miles apart physically. It is not practical for our teammates who actually operate the machines and produce the parts or assemble them into products our customers need. While I appreciate the feel good reports of folks 3D printing respirator parts, it simply does not translate to most industrial or even consumer products. How are your firms dealing with this dilemma? Staying six feet apart is not difficult in many shops that make larger gears, but people still have to interact while loading or unloading or moving things around. Our area is closing all non-essential businesses. Pizza parlors and other purveyors of carry-out meals are “essential.” Manufacturing operations are not. Quite a comedown for the “arsenal of democracy” yet scientifically required if we expect to get through the crisis with a minimal body count. Please keep that in mind when frustration sets in. If you have an interesting account of your “confinement” perhaps we can share it through this blog space. Stay healthy, my friends. Tough times do not last but tough people do. For additional resources on COVID-19 check out these links: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/lets-make-something-out-michael-larson/ https://www.agma.org/resources/newsroom/industry-news/covid-19-and-global-trade-understanding-and-mitigating-supply-chain-risks/ https://www.cisa.gov/critical-manufacturing-sector https://www.nam.org/coronavirus/