17 December 2020

The future. The subject of this column. And especially the future after April 2021. I am sick to death of the whole period preceding this one. Why after April? Because, if all goes well, the vulnerable among us will be protected by then. This would mean that from then on, we would be able to make up for some of the damage. Let us hope so, because the damage is considerable. In the broadest sense of the word …

I start by giving my mother a hug instead of that tentative elbow. I have calluses on my elbow from ‘handshake 2.0′. Next, I head for the catering industry. Lastly, for all those businesses of which I can only imagine how they manage – for the time being – to keep their heads above water. For some of them, April 2021 will surely be too late, their business prospects end in 2020…

At Phoenix, we are going full steam ahead in 2021 with what we have been doing for ages. Fair is fair, because there was a short break due to the COVID-19-panic. ‘Was’, because as of now we have left that behind us. Right now is exactly when it is paramount to keep moving, learning and improving. Lean, scrum, 5S … we are busy again and after that short break (or call it a panic attack), it feels super good.

What strikes me in processes like these is the enthusiasm with which young people take on their role. Youth (which, incidentally, remains a relative term) dares to make mistakes and the next time it goes well. They come up with solutions to problems that I myself did not recognise before. They keep their distance from processes and then come up with effective solutions. Finally, they also make it clear to me why they are ‘the youth’ and I am not. They don’t fall into the trap of the past … working mega hours and thinking in all seriousness that this will make you more effective. Every now and then, it is also quite confrontational for me …

Of course, in a team of almost 50 people, there are also colleagues who find change (read: continuous improvement) quite difficult. It is therefore particularly nice to see that it is precisely these colleagues who increasingly come up with very good optimistic ideas. And you notice – without them saying it out loud – that they are secretly quite proud of this.

I’m in a flow, this column – on the eve of the festive season – is not finished yet. We will continue shortly, so …

In recent years, we have replaced most of our machinery with new, fast and economical machines. With plenty of spare capacity. We will therefore use the coming period to ‘pump’ these investments full of work. At the moment, my partner successfully devotes his days to this. The result? As of January, we will be working in two shifts again … just like before COVID-19.

With the knowledge that existing and new customers are finding their way to our rubber pads(again), I will therefore close off this column and the year 2020. I will end with the COVID’ classic: stay healthy & of course enjoy the holidays!