Technology in times of pandemic

As flows of goods and critical components stopped, so did production lines across several sectors – for example automotive, where the lack of tech parts ground some factories to a complete halt.

At the other end of the scale, companies across the globe rushed to get parts of their workforce equipped with laptops in preparation for them to work from home, while in China and elsewhere AI was employed to help manage the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an interview with Delivered., Alexander Gunde, President Technology at DHL, discusses the implications COVID-19 has on tech supply chains and why, where technology is concerned, it will be a very changed world post-Corona.

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc across the world. How has this affected the technology sector?

It’s been nothing short of a ‘tsunami’, I would say. First, China literally shut down, and the primary concern was to get life-saving equipment and technology into the country in the safest possible way. Now, as China kicks back into gear, many airlines have suspended flights, and with them cargo space. Meanwhile, shipping lines are only slowly re-starting services, so dealing with the backlog of goods has been tough overall.

Moreover, generally the technology supply chain is extremelyfine-tuned, with just-in-time deliveries. Ordinarily, it’s very efficient, without much spare inventory. Obviously, the interruption from China had a significant impact on those just-in-time deliveries.

Does that mean supply chains for the tech sector are too vulnerable if they rely so heavily on one country? 

To an extent, yes. But supply chains had already been changing, and that was mainly a result of the US-China trade war. That prompted a number of companies to relocate or consider relocating production to other countries in South East Asia and India. 

China will always remain a key manufacturing base – no-that is not even in question. But I think going forward we may see some more diversification and  somemore off-shoring to spread the risk.

I also believe we will see a lot more technology being deployed to ensure supply chain visibility and control. In these volatile times, transparency and control of supply chains has never been more important. Digitalization around end to end visibility of goods and inventories, use of data analytics and digital twins to predict and simulate flows, and interaction with consignees on best delivery options will help to further optimize global supply chains, making them more dynamic, flexible and generally more stable in times of uncertainty. In addition, risk management tools, such as our DHL Resilience360, will increasingly be used for analysis and also for real time situation updates.

How has your team managed these challenges?

I must say, I am very proud of the team. We have dedicated technology sector experts around the world. –They’re usually a pretty agile and engaged bunch, and we’re not new to crisis management, but this time they really excelled. Everyone stuck very close to our customers and, amid the challenges, we did our very best to come up with solutions, whether that meant procuring special charters or finding solutions across all DHL divisions. While it wasn’t possible to move everything ‘just-in-time’, I think we’ve done a pretty good job to ensure whatever could be moved was moved. We’ve had very positive feedback from many customers, and this in turn has spurred on the team even more to go beyond the extra mile to get the job done.

How do you see the outlook for the technology sector?

I think it’s a mixed bag at present. There has been unprecedented demand for laptops and other devices as companies around the world prepare for their people to work from home – not every employee is equipped with a laptop. On the other hand, retailers in many parts of the world have had to shut down their bricks-and-mortar stores for the time being. Ordinarily, one would assume that, with so many people now locked indoors, we’ll see a massive boom in online shopping for tech goods. However,I wonder whether the desire for spending on consumer electronics is really there.

So, the near future for technology is not that good then?

I wouldn’t necessarily say that. Of course, with a slowdown in consumerism, it’s likely that tech companies will not trade as much in the near-term in some areas. One report I have read gave an early analysis predicting two percent growth for 2020 as probable, or a contraction of two percent as a pessimistic scenario.

But it’s early days yet, and time will tell. Where I’m very optimistic is robotics and AI. Here, I predict we’ll see an upturn, as the current crisis has already seen tech companies, for example in China, deploying AI in forecasting and managing the pandemic, while robots have been increasingly employed for tasks such as cleaning and sterilizing.

Do you then see technology also being part of the solution in the fight to beat COVID-19?

Yes, I do and, as I mentioned just now, China is one example where technology has been deployed. For example, Alibaba, Baidu, Huawei and other companies have accelerated their healthcare initiatives. They are now involved with clinicians, academics and government entities around the world to activate technology able to identify, track and forecast outbreaks, helping to diagnose the virus and processing healthcare claims. Or take Google’s Deepmind which has released a series of predictions on managing or curbing the virus outbreak.

There are many new technologies available today that did not exist in previous pandemic situations. Most prominent among them are connectivity, health-tech devices, data analytics, collaborative tools and VR applications. Fighting COVID-19 will give these new technologies a further push in functionality, widespread implementation and social acceptance. The world will be a different one, also in terms of how we will leverage technologies.

In what ways do you think will the world be different once this crisis is over?

In technology terms, I foresee many changes. For example, using technology to connect, have meetings, work and educate virtually will take on a new momentum. There are many millions of people now working from home, and millions of school kids have eight hours of digital lessons daily, meeting in virtual classrooms and doing their homework via an app. I think some of these platforms and tools will be increasingly adopted in a ‘post-Corona’ world. 

There are other examples of increased social acceptance, such as health apps to identify symptoms and track people movement to follow chain infections. Previously, in most parts of the world these would have been rejected straight out, but people might be more open towards the use of such technology in the future if it is linked to the purpose of safety and protection. This in turn is bound to have an impact on digital health and wearable devices.

So, I think overall, the outlook for the tech sector is good. Yes, there’s likely to be a short-term dip, but on the whole I’m optimistic about the future. I believe the sector will overcome the challenges faced and will bounce back as soon as the crisis abates. ― Michelle Bach 

Published: April 2020

Images: DHL, iStock