COVID-19 is reshaping the South African and African  manufacturing sector and is compounding existing challenges while simultaneously eradicating established practices, subsequently altering the manufacturing world as we know it for the foreseeable future. However, with change, brings opportunity. TheManufacturing Indaba, together with Futureworld invite you to re-envisage your manufacturing or related business by attending an insightful series of webinars - unlike any other - to assist you in forging your way forward through these unprecedented times which may form the “new normal” for manufacturing.  

Considerable export slowdowns are expected, in part owing to lower productivity and consumption as well as major trading partners such as China and India scaling back as their own productivity and economies are forecast to be negatively impacted. Yet, amidst these precarious global economic times, South Africa has been presented with the opportunity to prioritise local manufacturing, ultimately deviating from imported products in an endeavour to rebuild our own capability. This is set to not only stabilise local supply chains but promote employment and economic growth. To this end, supply chain policies, business models and processes must be revised. Manufacturers should anticipate continued supply chain interruption and look towards increasing manufacturing for local markets and collaborating with their value chains to expand those markets.

Fortunately, demand and growth potential for products is expected to rebound but may take a few years, giving the economy a chance to rebound after this crisis. How to reshape your manufacturing business requires intense insight and introspection to capitalise on the current epidemic. This necessitates a long term, strategic view of the economic implications that will enable industrialists to make the appropriate decisions when recovering from the pandemic to prepare themselves for success in the longer term .

In view of the above, the acclaimed Manufacturing Indaba have construed a 3-part web-series of thought-provoking and progressive sessions that are set to educate and inspire South African industrialists to transition from a state of panic and crisis control, to identifying and capitalising on latent, yet consequential opportunities that have the propensity to take manufacturing businesses to unprecedented levels. Sessions will cover the following poignant topics:

Part 1:             How to think like a futurist. Back casting , black/white swans, scenario planning – how might we envisage a new unknown future

                        11h00 – 12h00  I  29 May 2020

Part 2:             Future of Manufacturing: From global to local, closer alignment of value chains, augmenting with tech (IOT, 3d Printing, 4IR, etc), decentralization and new demand

                        11h00 – 12h00  I  5 June 2020

Part 3:             How to lead in times of uncertainty: The human elements of leadership, acting on imperfect information, confronting biases and ensuring we value humanness

                        11h00 – 12h00   I   12 June 2020

The cost is R750 excluding VAT, for each session or R1 800 excluding VAT, for the complete series (R600 each). 

Winston Churchill said “A Crisis is a terrible thing to waste” and this is the time for manufacturing businesses to review their business plans, models and continuity strategies. COVID-19 and other black swan events will necessitate unique responses that are dynamic in nature. This illuminating series is set to empower the country’s manufacturing sector to emerge more robust from the crisis.