Recently, NTMA President Roger Atkins sat down with Pittsburgh-based law firm Tucker Arensburg to provide his perspective and outlook related to the effects of COVID-19 on the manufacturing industry. Roger knows the NTMA well; he joined the association in 1979 and having previously held every officer position for NTMA at the national level, including serving as NTMA Chairman in 2012.
The discussion included looks at the effects of PPP loan funding, the state of manufacturing moving into the second half of 2020, keeping employees safe and compliant, and even on what’s on the horizon for the industry.
Here’s a highlight on where Roger sees operations heading towards coming out of the pandemic:
Well, I think of augmented reality. I think you’re going to see a lot of things go electronic…the days of sales people walking in and helping you, could be changed from you putting on a set of goggles and them walking you through it. And this is something I’ve been trying to encourage our members to get behind. In any disruption in our industry or a major disruption such as this, there are opportunities for change. After COVID, the people who may have been reluctant to go through with automation are going to be more open to change.
When you see what a pandemic can cost in terms of workforce and operations by closing your business, it would be a great improvement to go the automation route….So much of the work that is easily automated has been taken overseas. We keep the stuff that is really hands on and complex. But I do think if we can see some shift, we could see more and more automation and I think that’s what we are going to see.
Interested in reading more of Roger’s expert perspectives? Click here!