Perhaps now, given the current situation, you are hectically thinking about what else can be done and what measures can be taken for other possible unexpected scenarios mentioned within contracts under the section entitled “Force Majeure” and/or “Hardship”. Yes, until recently, no one could have imagined that many companies would find themselves in a situation whereby they would have to deal with several problems at once – missing orders, sick employees, new hygiene measures, and new government regulations that change all too often. Today, the new certainty is constant uncertainty.

To give you just a few recent examples – an otherwise reliable supplier stopped delivering critical stock due to quarantine and an employee who was in regular contact with this supplier fell ill and is in hospital or has been dismissed. Where do we have information about other suppliers and their offers? Isn’t the information just on his computer? In the case of a dismissed employee, the data on his computer should be deleted according to the GDPR. Well, are we going to have to “Google” everything again?

We then have to start looking for other suppliers, read the exact technical specifications of the requested product, solve the question of the best possible contract conditions and prices, and we need this problem resolved today. How can you deal with this situation efficiently?

One of the solutions is to have information about tenders and offers of suppliers that have already taken place stored on the cloud or on a platform where they can be easily traced. Thus, in all circumstances, you can maintain the know-how within the company (e.g. technical requirements) and be able to react to changes in a short time.

It must be said that in emergency situations, employees tend to order only from existing suppliers. They often forego the issue of achieving the best price or terms and conditions. Either a historical overview of offers, or entering a new demand into a system, increases transparency and a better price can be achieved, even in the event of an emergency (perhaps one of the suppliers will suddenly offer a better price).

Many companies face communication problems. Work from home (WFH) can make communication within the company even worse. Although an ERP system contains accurate information on what and how many items the company has in stock, it does not say that in the event of an emergency, it is best to contact another branch abroad, which can quickly provide a critical spare part. The truth is that not all managers have access to inventory stock levels outside their plant. In this case, while e-mail and telephone calls may help, information that colleagues or even suppliers receive via a common platform will reach them much faster.

The new challenges that companies have to face are supporting innovation and the digitization of companies, changing traditional approaches to work, and approaches to cooperation. Suddenly, it’s not only familiar partner companies, but also competitors that are starting to cooperate. One way to save costs is to work with other companies, not just from the same sector, but also with companies that are geographically close. By cooperating in this way, it is possible to save property costs (rental of offices, storage space, cars, equipment, accommodation capacity), arrange regular deliveries of hygiene or office supplies (volume discounts, free transport), and facilitate the central procurement of raw materials.

The SPOLUPRACOVNA.cz (Collaboration Room) platform offers an up-to-date overview of your company’s internal and external needs – quickly, easily, and in one place. It helps manage your know-how, reduce response times and, last but not least, improve internal and external communication for better insights into the current needs of your company.