The COVID-19 Effect: Australian Manufacturers Must Move to Digital
Richard Blatcher,
What does the COVID-19 pandemic mean for manufacturing in this country? The crisis is changing every aspect of how Australian manufacturers buy, sell, and engage with customers, distributors and dealers, writes Richard Blatcher.
Even before the COVID-19 crisis, Australian manufacturing had suffered many years of decline. The pandemic has already had the effect of increasing production locally, particularly personal protective equipment (PPE), medicines and medical devices. It’s impossible to know exactly what the long-term effects will be, though there are plans emerging for stronger exports, with food and renewable energy leading the way.
With COVID-19 and the recent oil-price volatility, manufacturers have been among the most affected. The simple human cost of COVID-19 is already being measured in lives changed, economies and supply chains disrupted, plants and factories closed, futures made uncertain, and loved ones lost.