Covid 19 is a term now synonymous with disaster. The pandemic disrupted our lives in ways that wasn’t imaginable few months ago. Although there are lots of hope about finding a vaccine but this virus seems to be with us for sometimes. And even if we achieve to overcome the crisis at hand the effects of Coronavirus will endure for foreseeable future.
Businesses all over the world are trying to cope with the new normal and one solution that is becoming more attractive by the day is remote work. Remote work s was becoming popular even before the pandemic strikes. According to Global State of Remote Work which was published in 2018 68% of workers around the world have worked remotely, of which 49% work full time. Only 38% are on site workers.
There are some misconceptions about remote work. Contrary to common belief Someone working outside of the office is less distracted and more focused on jobs at hand. They work is not tied to regular business hours and they are better equipped to meet the deadlines. Also working remotely means companies can save money and hassles of managing a group of people under one roof. Some argue that remote working is damaging for office culture but that is a small price to pay for all the benefits you get.
Also, remote working is very popular among employees. Based on the Remote Work Statistics 2020 edition. Companies allowing remote work have 25% lower employee turnover those that don’t. Meanwhile 76% of workers would be more willing to stay with their current employer if they could work flexible hours.People who work remotely at least once a month are 24% more likely to be happy and productive. Last but not least the number of people who work from home has increased by 140% since 2005.
Working from home also has many environmental benefits. According to State of Telecommuters work from home employees don’t commute every day, which dramatically reduces the amount of pollution they’re responsible for. If we were to include workers who would like to telecommute but can’t right now, we would have an annual reduction in harmful gases equal to the amount produced by 10 million cars.
Remote Work and Printing Companies
Based on a report freshly published by Keypoint Intelligence roughly 75% of printing companies were already making technological enhancements that would help support a remote workflow prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.There are also technological challenges for remote work that should be considered. Having effective remote work policy means using new hardware solutions as well as linking the print workflow with the network of employees who are working remotely. Using cloud services for design, proofreading file transfer and other operations becomes more essential. Investing in Internet connected software would be a priority. On the other hand,the employees should be trained and get accustomed to working from home. Automation in print house will accelerate and will dominate the whole operation. Press manufacturers are also responding to the demand for more operation Koenig and Bauer recently introduced Rapida 106 X, where the whole operation from data entry and plates changing as well as logistics is done automatically. The whole operation and inventory management also con be monitored via mobile phone or tablet. New generation of Heidelberg Speedmaster is also equipped with automated print logistic as well automatic plate changing where used plate is also removed and stored automatically. Heidelberg is also promoting stop press concept. Based on this concept press can operate automatically 24/7 without intervention from operator. Operator only intervenes when the print operation has to stop for maintenance or other technical requirements.
Conclusion
It is fair to say that COVID-19 has changed our lives and some of these changes will remain with us for the rest of our lives. The shift to remote work and more flexible operation is the natural response to the pandemic. Many printing companies have already started to embrace remote work strategy although some might still believe it is damaging to the work place and print shop culture. But the companies who face the tough challenges of today’s pandemic can successfully ride the storm and thrive in the future.
12 Comments