Technology to protect industrial operations and personnel during COVID-19
While new technology has been seen as a threat to jobs, in times like these it could be essential to keeping the lights on - and keeping people employed.
During these unprecedented times, my colleagues and I have had numerous conversations with industrial businesses regarding their efforts to adapt to changing working pressures. One message that has been heard over and over again is the need to carry on with operations.
Operating in the water industry, we deal with a large range of different enterprises in a number of different sectors, many of which (such as food processing) have actually seen an increase in the demand of their product or service while trying to operate with fewer than normal resources, and it's impressive to see adaptations quickly put in place in these companies to protect not only the viability of the organisation in question, but also the personnel that form its make-up.
One approach that companies are taking to protect operations and their workforce is through the active acquisition of new process equipment. Despite the widely seen messaging in the media around cash shortages in businesses, we are finding that companies in many industrial sectors are recognising that investing in technology upgrades now protects their interests today and for the future.
In forward-looking companies, investment - in equipment for improved process water and wastewater screening, for example - is being seen as a positive way to overcome the resource, operational and financial hurdles presented by the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Investment is being seen as a positive way to overcome the resource, operational and financial hurdles presented by the coronavirus crisis
Technologies that reduce operating costs and improve profitability help to protect the company's finances (see my blog Opex savings through water reuse), and technologies that require less maintenance or less human interaction help to protect the operations team from unnecessary exposure to risks (see also my colleague Louisa Mafeld's article Five things industrial businesses should be doing right now to improve COVID-19 viability).
Whenever technology begins to play a larger role in society there is always a fear of that technology ‘replacing’ the worker - we’ve seen this throughout history, whether it be automated car production lines or the dawn of the computer age - but it's just as important to note the positive that comes afterwards. People retrain and upskill, and industry advances. Jobs are not lost, but instead resources are better used elsewhere.
The right new technology can be an enabler for positive change.
Undoubtedly, we are in challenging times. But the appetite to improve and grow businesses is as strong as ever, and as we’ve seen before, there are technologies that are providing a way to do that - safely and profitably.
