Honda Supports HBCUs
At the end of March, nearly 250 students and coaches from 48 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) were set to travel to California to compete for the national championship title in the 31st annual Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (HCASC), America’s premier academic competition for HBCUs. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Honda made the difficult decision to cancel the HCASC National Championship Tournament for 2020, reallocating funds from the program to partner with HBCUs and support their local communities.
Honda has joined together with 58 HBCUs—including the 48 HBCUs that would have competed in the HCASC National Championship Tournament—on a COVID-19 relief initiative to address immediate needs within their communities. With funds redirected from the 2020 HCASC program, the HBCUs have made donations to charitable organizations in their local communities that address key needs including food insecurity and medical support for families, senior citizens, and the homeless. The donations also have funded medical supplies and personal protective equipment for frontline healthcare workers in HBCU communities. Since May 1, Honda has provided a total of $325,000 to HBCUs, in turn helping them serve 108 organizations in 20 states.
Mercedes-Benz Makes Masks
Mercedes-Benz has started operation of a production plant for mouth and nose masks at its Sindelfingen plant. In future the company will thus increasingly be focussing on its own production of equipment to protect against the spread of COVID-19. The fully automatic production line has a daily capacity of more than 100,000 masks. The aim is for them to be used in the European Mercedes-Benz passenger car plants which have successively taken up production again following a phase of work interruption as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mercedes-Benz will not only make the masks produced in Sindelfingen available to its own employees; it also wants to support external institutions as part of its social responsibility.
In order to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic Mercedes-Benz is focusing on mouth and nose masks produced in-house and in June it put into operation a fully automatic production line at the Mercedes-Benz Sindelfingen plant. This sees the company securing the requirements of the passenger car and components plants which have already been starting up again since mid-April. Within a few weeks Mercedes-Benz has completed the entire process chain for in-house production – from planning and material procurement to commissioning of the production plant and distribution of the mouth and nose protection. Both the facility and the required raw materials come from Germany. The production facility for the mouth and nose masks at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen by PIA Automation Holding GmbH puts together the fleece, nose clips and ear bands in a fully automatic production process in a few seconds, which makes it possible to achieve a daily output quantity of more than 100,000 masks. By the end of the year the company is expecting a production volume of more than seven million masks. Alongside provision for the employees, Mercedes-Benz also wants to meet its social responsibility and support external institutions, assuming country-specific approvals and requirements. The mouth and nose masks currently conform to DIN EN 14683 and serve to counteract the spread of pathogens from the nose and throat of the wearer.
IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) Reports Consumer Attitudes Will Use Personal Vehicles More
The IBV polled more than 18,000 U.S. adults in May and early June to understand how COVID-19 has affected their perspectives on topics that include remote work; the return to the workplace; where they want to live; how they want to shop; and their preferred forms of transportation. The research follows a similar study conducted in April, which had already identified significant shifts in consumer attitudes as a result of the pandemic.
The results signal that consumers are preparing themselves for more permanent changes in behavior because of the pandemic and their fears about future outbreaks. Two of every three respondents said they were concerned about a second wave of COVID-19 hitting later in 2020. More than 60 percent said they believed there were likely to be more global pandemic events like COVID-19 in the future.
The new research suggests that organizations in every industry must pay attention to their customers’ shifting preferences. And they must respond with agility: by adopting technology, rethinking processes and most importantly addressing culture in order to emerge from the pandemic smarter and stronger.
Living in Urban Areas Is Becoming Less Desirable
Nearly one in five urban residents in the survey indicated they would definitely relocate or would consider moving to suburban or rural areas as a result of the pandemic. Fewer than 1 in 10 indicated they now found living in an urban area more appealing.
The likely population shifts resulting from these changing attitudes would significantly impact local infrastructure and support systems. That would include changes in traffic patterns; loads on cell and broadband networks; demands on emergency response services; and use of online government portals and systems for taxes, unemployment claims and other citizen activities. Given that 2020 is a census year in the U.S., it is especially important to capture these trends as governments plan the next stage of public investments.
Local governments will need to look to technology to help them build smarter, more resilient and citizen-centric infrastructure that can scale up or down based on need. Hybrid cloud platforms, cognitive assistants and self-service tools can help ease the intensifying strain on citizen services during the pandemic and improve adaptability in the long run.
Given the change in perception with respect to urban areas, local governments will also need to develop services and community spaces— restaurants, outdoor spaces, arts and culture attractions—that establish an appealing brand for prospective residents.
Mobility Patterns Will Change—and Personal Vehicles Are Likely to Win
In an abrupt shift from pre-pandemic trends, consumers indicated they will use personal vehicles more and will reduce their use of shared transportation services.
One in four respondents said they would use their personal vehicles exclusively as their mode of transport, and an additional 17 percent said they’d use them more than before. A full 60 percent of those who want to use a personal vehicle but don’t already own one said they would buy one. The remainder in this group said they would rent a vehicle until they felt safe using shared mobility.
More than half—53%—said they would reduce use of, or no longer use, public transportation like buses, subways or trains.
Slightly more than half of people who used shared mobility services (e.g. public transportation, ride hailing and traditional taxis) said they would now use them less or not at all. Of those respondents, nearly half said that travelers would need to use face coverings and social distancing methods before they would resume using shared mobility services at the level they did prior to the pandemic; more than one third indicated that transit providers’ trustworthy use of disinfectant policies and methods would make a difference in their behavior.
The data also show a rise in preference for personal vehicles. One in four respondents said they would use their personal vehicles exclusively as their mode of transport, and an additional 17 percent said they’d use them more than before.
A full 60 percent of those who want to use a personal vehicle but don’t already own one said they would buy one. The remainder in this group said they would rent a vehicle until they felt safe using shared mobility.
To adapt to these new mobility patterns and preferences, the auto industry must provide an increasingly customer-centric experience—one focused on deeper customer relationships instead of transactions alone. Sales associates and dealerships will need to adopt digital services like virtual assistants, contactless delivery, and augmented reality (AR) apps for remote diagnostics, and how-to manuals to make the experience of pre-sale, sale and service more personalized and digitized.
Shared mobility services like ride-hailing platforms will need to continue to improve their virtual tools and assistants to personalize customers’ experience. Clear communication about the cleanliness and safety of each vehicle via ride-hailing apps will be critical to gaining consumers’ trust.
Remote Work Is Here to Stay
Before COVID-19 containment measures went into effect, less than 11% of respondents worked from home. As of June 4, that percentage had expanded to more than 45%.
What’s more, 81% of respondents—up from 75% in April—indicated they want to continue working remotely at least some of the time. More than half—61%—would like this to become their primary way of working.
Given these new preferences, organizations must rethink work in the context of the new possibilities and challenges. Employees and employers alike have embraced benefits of working remotely for some tasks, including reduced travel time and improved productivity. However, they also recognize the limitations and risks of remote work, like the potential loss of rich collaboration, and the need for a new set of tools to encourage engagement. Leading companies will emerge stronger by fully embracing a new set of modern collaborative work tools, and most importantly, dedicating time and resources to build an agile, open culture and leadership models among their employees.
Businesses also need to adopt technology and systems that can prevent technical problems and address new cybersecurity threats that are likely to grow as remote work becomes more common. For security in particular, it will be critical to design secure frameworks for systems at risk of exposing intellectual property, client and employee data, as well as collaboration tools like video conferencing platforms, and file sharing platforms.
Employees Will Demand a Careful Re-Entry to On-Site Work
When asked what steps employers should take in returning to on-site work operations, many respondents felt strongly that their employers should deploy broad measures to protect them from exposure to the virus and to allow them the flexibility they need to ensure their mental health and well-being.
More than half of respondents said there must be clear communication with employees about what is being done to sanitize the workplace. And nearly half also said employers should require social distancing in the workplace and clearly communicate about what would happen in case of another outbreak.
Half said employers should provide paid leave for people who are sick or have symptoms. And nearly one in three feel strongly that their employer should provide special accommodations for individuals to address childcare needs.
Given these attitudes, it’s clear that organizations must have a data-driven, evidence-based plan for the return to the workplace—to balance their enterprise’s productivity with employees’ need to feel comfortable and safe in returning in person.
Consumers’ Retail Preferences Have Shifted Significantly
In the May-June survey, consumers’ perspectives on shopping remained fairly consistent with what was reported in April. More than one third—35%—of consumers in the more recent survey said they were likely to use contactless payment options (e.g. via their mobile device or credit card) when shopping, as a result of COVID-19.
And more than 75% of respondents indicated they were choosing to visit stores to buy essential goods (e.g., food & beverages and household & cleaning products). One in four respondents indicated they were shopping more often at locally owned stores and buying more locally made, grown or sourced products.
In response, consumer brands are now moving into a more thoughtful, proactive stage looking for hyperlocal demand insights to better serve their customers. Many are using AI to look for patterns in the demand signals and starting to realign production, potentially with local sourcing, and adjust supply chains accordingly.
The Take-Away
Customer behaviors have changed in response to the pandemic, with many people embracing more digital experiences across all aspects of their lives. Many of those changes will be permanent. Across every industry, organizations are seeking to better understand these changing needs and adjust products, services, policies and culture to not only adapt, but also to emerge stronger.
The future is still uncertain, of course. But there are two trends that seem likely to differentiate winning enterprises: accelerated adoption of technology, specifically Cloud and AI; and investment in people, culture and skills as much or more as they invest in technology.
It is the combination of great technology with engaged, agile employees that will create the winning experience and value propositions that consumers are demanding.
Daimler Helps with SaniStops
Freshening up, taking a shower, finding a toilet – elementary needs for truck drivers on tour. However, during the Covid-19 lockdown it has been impossible for many truck drivers to use sanitary and washing facilities. Erlenfried Galuba, a driver for the Fehrenkötter haulage company from Ladbergen, reports: “Usually we are allowed to use customers’ washrooms. But since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis many hygienic facilities have been closed to us truck drivers. The first thoughts of every company were for their own employees. We just fell through the system!”
DocStop activists start SaniStop
Galuba’s boss didn’t want to resign himself to that: Joachim Fehrenkötter is the Managing Director and owner of Fehrenkötter and also the chairman of DocStop e.V., an association which has been committed to providing outpatient medical care for truck drivers since 2007. Now, DocStop has found another field of activity in the sanitary emergency triggered by the Covid-19 crisis. The result: within only one week DocStop had created a network of 150 companies in Germany who were prepared to make their washrooms available to truck drivers during the pandemic. This was the birth of the DocStop initiative SaniStop.
“It is with great respect that everyone talks about the heroes of the road who, during the crisis are making sure we are supplied with the things we need daily and yet no one will let our staff use their sanitary facilities although that is of the greatest importance in the current situation,” is how Joachim Fehrenkötter accounts for his commitment.
Sanitary containers at particularly important locations off the motorway
Just days after the lockdown was announced the SaniStop activist found a co-operation partner in Ralf Merkelbach, key account manager for large fleets in Europe at BPW Bergische Achsen KG: it was his idea to install mobile sanitary containers at important locations. They were joined by prominent helpers: the Federation of Road Haulage, Logistics and Waste Removal (BGL), the Logistics Alliance Germany and the Ministry for Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) as well as a series of business donors supported the measures and integrated them in to the industry initiative #LogistikHilft founded by Fraunhofer IML. This was under the patronage of Andreas Scheuer, Minister for Transport, and the parliamentary state secretary Steffen Bilger, co-ordinator for haulage transport and logistics for the federal government.
Daimler Truck AG donates 7500 euros to #LogistikHilft
Daimler Truck AG also joined the group of supporters and provided 7500 euros for the maintenance and care of hygienic facilities. Now there are sanitary containers directly next to the Mercedes-Benz plant in Ludwigsfelde close to Berlin or at the cargo transport centre in Bremen, for example. The DocStop website, www.docstop.eu, shows where SaniStop containers have been put up along a route. Thus drivers are on the safe side.
Grave effects on road haulage due to Covid-19
Despite this solution the Covid-19 pandemic has and continues to present great challenges to road haulage companies and their staff: There has been, for example, a massive drop in orders in some sectors which is threatening jobs and sometimes even companies. “We have been hit too; our orders have dropped by 25 percent,” reports Joachim Fehrenkötter, whose haulage company has 125 trucks and specialises in the transportation of agricultural machinery and cars. Just as serious are the changes to daily processes within haulage companies from scheduling to the workshops and warehousing: quarantine, working from home, staff who are in high-risk groups – no company remains untouched.
Joachim Fehrenkötter summarises: “We have achieved a lot with SaniStop and #LogistikHilft and I am delighted to see increasing recognition of truck drivers as a professional group during the crisis. But we can’t stop now. Even after the crisis there will still be considerable need for improvement regarding parking and sanitary facilities for truck drivers.”