Radical change in business dynamics with new normal

All companies need to evaluate, reinvent, and re-strategize to survive in this paradigm shifting scenario, says Vikas Khanvelkar, MD, DesignTech Systems. In this interview, he talks about the impact of coronavirus pandemic on mechanical engineering industry and the key learnings from the crisis. Excerpts:.

Please tell us about the initiatives taken by your company for business continuity while ensuring employee well-being during these challenging times?

Well-being of our employees is paramount for us. At the same time, we need to ensure that the business does not suffer and also we are able to support our customers in the best possible way. All our employees are working from home. We have sent out a communication to all our customers informing them about the change in the working scenario while assuring them that we will be supporting them remotely. In our business line, most of the software are accessible through cloud, which our engineers are able to use from home and continue working. Whatever technical support is required from our side, our technical team is very much available to help them out with it through emails, phone and webcasts. Our marketing team is conducting webcasts for the prospects and customers. We are investing more on digital campaigns to generate leads, business opportunities and interests. Our Sales teams are conducting technology demonstrations through webcasts. Our Engineering services team has been given laptops at home and they are accessing software solutions through cloud and are continuing to work on their projects. While we all realise that these are incredibly difficult times for people world over, we are trying to see how we can best keep our employees safe and yet not let the business take a bad hit.

What steps have you taken to ensure Work from Home? How are you ensuring collaboration amongst internal teams?

We have set up a ‘work-from-home teams calendar’. Based on that we regularly connect through conference calls and webcasts to discuss various strategies and we are also using these tools to connect with the customers and continue to engage with them in business dialogues. It gets a little challenging, but we are making the best use of technologies and solutions such as online meeting platforms to carry out our work and business discussions.

What initiatives have you taken for smooth customer experience?

We have sent out an email communication to all our customers on whom they can reach out to for any technical support they require. Most of the software solutions and applications that our customers use are available on cloud. And our technical team is fully equipped and ready to help through their issues via remote access, emails, phone, and webcasts.

What would you define as key lessons from this crisis?

Some of the key lessons learnt in this crisis are:

• We are not only responsible for our own well-being but also for the well being of our community and society at large. Every individual has a greater responsibility to ensure extra care and precaution so as to not violate or breach any norm or condition that might put the health of community at large at risk.
• Second lesson learnt is that life and work does not stop. We need to understand that the work scenario and business dynamics post COVID outbreak are going to change radically. All companies need to evaluate, reinvent, and re-strategize themselves to survive in this paradigm shifting scenario. Employees have to adapt themselves to meet the business and work expectations. Bringing work and life back on track is going to be a Herculean task that requires our utmost commitment and determination.
• If work from home has taught something is how to manage time efficiently. Working from home requires a different mind-set that teaches you to isolate yourself from the family to complete your work, understand when to make work a priority and still manage time for household chores and with family. Work from home can get more demanding on both the fronts and you need to do justice to both of them
• We as a company in the professional life, and as a community in our social life need to be prepared to face any unforeseen crisis situation henceforth and keep our contingency plans ready to deal with such situations – financially, resources wise, and also emotionally.

In your view, what will be the impact of the pandemic on the overall business scenario and especially on your segment? What is your strategy to tackle the economic slowdown?

Manufacturing industry in India was already experiencing a slowdown. And with this additional crisis, the industry is going to take a huge hit. It is expected that companies in our area of work, mechanical engineering industry will experience about 30-35% negative growth. It is going to take several months for the companies to recover and gain back the lost momentum. How it will affect the companies’ hiring, salary increments, and other employment policies is unknown at the moment. Every company will have to evaluate their projected damage and might be compelled take some really tough decisions to ensure the survival of the company.

What are the policies/ support that you expect from the government for your sector?

The biggest problem that companies like us are facing is the liquidity crunch. We don’t know when the work will resume. It will take at least 6 to 7 months for business to start picking up. Collections from the customers will be a challenge as they are also facing the same problem of funds shortage. Government should launch some supporting loan schemes which can make the funds available quickly at concessional interest rates. Government can also allow more time to pay statutory dues like GST, TDS etc. Current time of two months is very short considering the uncertainty when the work will resume. Second major problem is the economic activity will be slowed down a lot. It is estimated by the economy experts that it will take two three years for the economy to go back to 2019 growth indicators. Government should provide stimulus to accelerate the economy to shorten this period as much as possible.