Short term disruption not only disrupts and interrupts business, but also our thinking in how we do business.  Disruption forces us to learn and grow.  It’s uncomfortable, even painful to endure, as we wish our circumstance was that of even one week ago, when our work was more comfortable and uneventful.

IT / OT Infrastructure, Digital Information and IoT devices

With the spread of COVID-19, new challenges and opportunities will arise for keeping your business safe from cybersecurity threats. As the government and businesses work on mitigating the impact of the ongoing outbreak, social distancing measures are leading to an increase in remote working across all sectors. The immediate challenge is “how can I protect my digital assets from a cyber-attack?” Some key vulnerabilities to a cyberattack are Information Technology / Operational Technology (IT / OT) infrastructure, digital information and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

Yesterday we wrote about companies being essential businesses and staying open during the "Stay at Home" order. If you do remain open, here are some recommendations to help keep employees safe while they are at work:

Use the following checklist to help you withstand the impacts of COVID-19 and be better prepared for further disruptions.

As the Illinois MEP, IMEC’s role is to be a resource for Illinois manufacturers and advocate best practices. Helping with strategy and creating systems to solve the challenges that these businesses face is our mission.

It remains our goal with today’s challenges. To that point IMEC, has created the Illinois Manufacturing Helpline and has been accepting questions 24/7 for the past week. It is our hope that some of these answers will save you precious time and assist with the challenges that you are facing.

As the world weathers the COVID-19 virus pandemic, we are faced with posturing for such and protecting / helping ourselves, family, friends, co-workers and members of our greater communities; but a procrastination of sorts -- coupled with a distrust / disbelief that this will impact me (downplaying the magnitude of such) and not knowing what we don’t know, exponentially raises the risk of infection and serious health consequences coming to bear.

Many companies have been asking whether their business is essential and, if they are essential, do they have to require employees to come to work. The Illinois Executive Order issued this past Friday caused much concern and confusion.

Part 1 of "The New Supply Chain" blog series Mike Loquercio, Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management Expert

For those of us in the supply chain field, we may or may not have sophisticated systems that provide big data relative to sales, markets, items, transit times, on-time delivery, shipped in full, and all the other metrics that help assess the health of the supply chain.

Depending upon your products, customers, and your manufacturing footprint, the most recent crisis may have taxed your supply chain to its limits or maybe you have a business continuity plan (BCP) that encompasses all the challenges.

"The times they are a changin’”-Bob Dylan 1964

No doubt all our work schedules and routines have been altered in the last few weeks. If we still report to a station in our workplace, procedures and social distances have changed. This impacts our communication style and frequency. If we are now remote, more drastic changes have occurred. Conversations with colleagues and customers may have most likely decreased from our normal rate and volume. Communication styles and tools have also changed, particularly for the remote worker.

How to market to new customers when orders are slow: