The current COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our lives in many ways over the past several weeks. From social distancing and self-isolation to school closings and work-from-home edicts, everyone and every business and industry has seemingly been affected — including the process industries.
In order to examine COVID-19’s effect on the process industries, Processing recently reached out to its social media audience and subscribers with the goal of gathering responses from those involved in the process industries who were willing to share answers to questions such as:
- How has COVID-19 affected your company and its operations?
- What precautions has your company taken as a result of COVID-19?
- How has COVID-19 affected your job?
In our latest COVID-19 Conversation, VCC President and CEO Andy Zanelli discusses the impact of COVID-19 at his company. Visual Communications Company, LLC (VCC) is a leading designer and manufacturer of illuminated electronic components used in human to machine interface (HMI).
How has COVID-19 affected your business?
Let me start by saying that we recognize the impact and uncertainty that COVID-19 is creating in our communities, and our hearts go out to all who are affected. Our number one priority at VCC is the health and safety of our employees, families, customers and suppliers.
Beyond that, our biggest concern is managing the current levels of uncertainty that we all face. As a business that sells its products to companies all over the world that represent a broad set of industries, we don’t yet have a clear picture as to which customers will be affected and how much. We think that there is no question that there will be an impact to demand in our industry, but the specific impact on VCC and the duration is difficult to estimate at this point. I feel the same about the broader economic implications.
That said, as a North American electronics manufacturer, the VCC team is very excited about its prospects a year from now. Many U.S. companies are learning painful lessons about their supply chain vulnerabilities, and they won’t want to rebuild their global supply chains the way they were. They will want to have more control that if this were to happen again — another pandemic, another trade war or something else — they will be better prepared to deal with that. At VCC we expect there to be massive amounts of electronics manufacturing coming back to North America, and we are well-positioned to help companies with their electronic component and EMS needs.
What changes has your company made as a result of COVID-19? What precautions has your company taken as a result of COVID-19?
VCC is an essential manufacturer, and we need to keep manufacturing in as safe an environment as possible. Like every other company out there, we’re addressing production employee health and safety with protective measures and we’ve instituted decentralized work for everyone else. That said, precautions for the health of our employees are the minimum price of admission. Now that we’ve got that shored up, there are other pressing priorities that need to be not only identified, but managing ruthlessly.
Very early on in this crisis, VCC leadership developed a clear and concise list of top priorities. They are:
- Stay calm and work from facts
- Protect employee well-being
- Over-communicate
- Anticipate customer needs
- Stabilize the supply chain
- Ensure financial resilience
- Look for new opportunities
By defining these priorities for the whole team, we keep everyone aligned at a time when misalignment can cost you the farm.
How has your job been affected by COVID-19?
First off, I have been blown away by how the VCC team has responded during this crisis. The grit and commitment that everyone has shown has been truly inspirational, and I’m proud to be a part of this team.
There is definitely a greater sense of urgency, not just for me, but for all of us at VCC. We’ve got a tremendous leadership team, so we’re able to table ideas, make decisions and move quickly. That’s what is needed. I’d add that I’m spending a good amount of my time in strategic planning. This might sound strange to some, but eventually COVID-19 gets under control, and the strategic groundwork that is laid now will drive growth at VCC.
