Story originally appeared in Manufacturing Global on May 31, 2020. Excerpts from the story below. To see the full story visit ManufacturingGlobal.com.

Alan Duncan, Senior Director of Industry Strategy (Manufacturing), EMEA, Blue Yonder on current trends relating to COVID-19 and automation.

“COVID-19 is not driving a need for automation in and of itself, but companies emerging from this current crisis will shift in this direction from their current state. Businesses will keep going as best they can – from recovering cash and operations, to identifying and mitigating medium and long term risks to become more resilient, and building a platform for sustainable growth in the future. The short-term focus will be on getting visibility over demand, inventory and supply disruptions through tools like Control Towers; in the medium-term, this will shift to trying to eliminate the extraordinary costs that have occurred during the crisis – cost optimisation, scenario planning, seeking alternative sources of supply, and in the longer-term the focus will be on sustainable profitable agility.”