Thursday, March 26, 2020
With the wake of Covid-19, social distancing has become mandatory. This is indeed the call of the hour. In order to combat this deadly virus, Covid-19, countries around the globe are under lockdown. And thus, apart from the essential services, all of us are mostly working from home. We are getting the news of Mother Earth healing herself, reporting just the right balance of healthy particles in the air; we are getting the news of dolphins coming to the sea shores or of the clear water flowing through the Venetian canals as we media are trying to portray the silver linings of the crisis. It is indeed necessary to take care of our mental health too, in this grave period as we are never used to be home for long hours. And thankfully, digital medium is bliss.
Our woodworking industry, like many other industries has been suffering a tremendous blow with shows like Holz-Handwerk and Xylexpo being postponed and some being cancelled. Where is the marketplace? Where will you show your machines? In every industry, the entire supply chain is facing great challenges. The after sales services are getting disrupted. Companies are going digital to support their customers through webinars, video calls and online software management tools. HOMAG Group has taken stern step to fight back this sudden outbreak of COVID-19 and will not hold its annual general meeting as scheduled on May 7, 2020. SCM Group from Italy has already announced, “Smartech” augmented reality assistance, where SCM experts can diagnose and solve problems in real time, thanks to a wearable computer and specific control software. Smartech incorporates video, camera, microphone and loudspeaker functions with wireless connection. This ensures the hands-free, two-way communication with interactive data sharing. Leuco, the tooling brand, has announced that they will offer free shipping of the orders and will ensure supply of raw materials from US through online platform. On the other hand, companies like Biesse, has come forward and donated 100,000 Euro to San Salvatore Hospital in Pesaro and launched a fundraising campaign under the motto: ‘Let’s Do More’. Federico Broccoli, Subsidiaries Division Director and Wood Division Director/Sales from Biesse updates, “We are working in synergy with our 39 subsidiaries to guarantee business continuity for our customers, assisting them with spare parts and services, as well as with remote assistance and operations at the customer’s site, in full compliance with local laws. Encouraged by a significant portfolio of orders, we are facing these weeks of emergency with confidence and with a deep sense of responsibility. Furthermore, the machines that continue to be produced by our manufacturing sites and the technology available at our hubs in Italy, North America, Australia, Malaysia and India, ensure a supply that is more than sufficient to meet the demands of Biesse and Intermac customers around the world and to respond to their technology needs during this time. Thanks to this strategic reserve, we are able to face the necessary slowdown with no cause for concern.” Dale Brown, the president of USNR states: “Our service teams are continuing to support our customers’ critical service needs in alignment with local government or customer restrictions. Where travel to customer sites is not possible, we are working with customers to provide alternate service solutions.”
This is just the time to opt into digital services or increase if you are already into it. Technology has changed the way we read. Online reading is on a rise and has evolved to allow the quick perusal of a lot of information very quickly. There are official reports that over three-fourths of internet users say they read blogs regularly. (Source: Hubspot). Even online advertisements are reported to have remarkable ROI. As per reports, 70% of people prefer online ads to traditional ones, demonstrating the reason why businesses are adapting to advertising strategies focused more on digital.
We, Wood & Panel, Europe’s first digital media on woodworking, have seen a surge in our newsletter readers over the last month, the open rates have improved significantly. Make use of this time, read, evaluate, promote, you get all the options from our website, www.woodandpanel.com. Re-read our archive issues, honestly some of the topics are still pertinent. We are open and are trying to boost the industry as much as we can. Send us any news you have, or any article you would like us to publish. We are also planning to come up shortly with some innovative and special and economic advertising packages to support the industry. In this time of global crisis, let us lend rock solid support to each other, let positivity and business flow and pray for healthier days ahead together.
Apratim Ghoshal, editor-in-chief, Wood & Panel group states: “Let us fight together. Let us make use of this time to reach each other virtually, to update our knowledge and share with each other our accomplishments. We welcome the industry to come forward with their machines and technology, we will find out ways to promote those to our global readers in our optimum capacity through our website, newsletters, magazines and social media channels. Wood & Panel team is working from home and is just an email or call away to support the industry.”
Tags: Biesse, coronavirus, Covid-19, digital, homag, online, SCM, usnr, Wood & Panel, woodworking industry
Comments: