Manufacturing Industries Pushed To Innovate By The Pandemic, Says Study

In the Dominican Republic, costing systems were introduced by 80.6% of the industries during the pandemic, inventory controls by 77.4%, procurement planning by 61.3%, and incorporation of data dashboards for management by 58.1%, Diario Libre reported.

A study on the local manufacturing sector done by the Universidad Iberoamericana (Unibe), with assistance from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Mipymes (MICM), before and after the restriction measures brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic provided the percentages.

It demonstrated how the coronavirus forced companies to innovate their manufacturing techniques.

According to the study, 83.9% of the participating industries thought their economic performance in the post-COVID-19 phase had varied from high to modest growth in their activities and operations. Of this total, 22.6% believe that there has been a significant increase, while 61.3% believe there has been moderate growth.

Contrarily, 6.5% of respondents said they had been impacted by stagnation, while 9.7% said there had been a drop (decrease) in their operations.

The study was discussed during a meeting with the Minister of Industry, Commerce, and Mipymes, Victor -Ito- Bisonó, during which the sample taken was not made clear.

The crisis brought on by the pandemic, the official noted, "made us get out of the bottom and made us be creative." He added that it allowed the Dominican Republic to show that even under the direst circumstances, work models can be developed and actions can be taken.

The minister indicated that “the challenges for us were opportunities (in the pandemic ) and that we can do different things. Studying, that's important, and potentiating it is even more important. I think that there is the central eye of what we are going to see here today (the study). We are going to be able to improve it, replicate it, enhance it and show the world what we are made of.”

Another of the results of the study is that the processing of the financing was intended to meet the needs of the industries.

27.3% of the requests were directed to the purchase of raw materials and to make payments to suppliers, the same ratio in both cases.

61% of industries used teleworking in administrative areas and 27.8% did so in sales sectors as a result of the restrictions put in place during the pandemic.