Resilience ...

... is perhaps the most important quality of 2020. The term originates from psychology. It describes the ability to survive stressful events without permanent damage and to emerge from them stronger.

The worst case scenario for German industry occurred in March 2020: Public life and large parts of the economy have come to a standstill or are only functioning on a low flame. Added to this are concerns about the health of family, friends and employees - as well as their own. Resilience means organizing the continuation of operations; ensuring liquidity and the supply of raw materials; showing responsibility towards employees and society and always thinking about the prospects after the crisis.

It will take time until this crisis is over and there is growth in Germany again. Then, with the benefit of hindsight, we will be able to say which companies have emerged stronger from the crisis and which have not and, above all, what the success factors were.

Human factors, such as employee motivation, will certainly be decisive, as will flexibility, i.e. the ability to adapt quickly to a completely unexpected new situation. But perhaps also innovation at the right time?

In the weeks leading up to the coronavirus crisis, we in the editorial team took a close look at the new products for Logimat and the Hannover Messe. These included many detailed improvements, but also genuine innovations that we would have liked to see live. We present a whole range of them in the special section of this issue from page 30. The most important trend is towards a digitalized and networked industry.

And this is where flexibility and resilience come into play again. One example: If, in the real world, the service technician can no longer travel to a defective system component, then it is good if he can use the system data on the digital twin to find a solution, transmit specific instructions to a technician on site via augmented reality glasses and, if a spare part is missing, deliver a file with the 3D print data so that a replacement is available in a few hours via additive manufacturing. Technical innovation helps.

On pages 8 and 9, we have collected voices from the industry who report on their experiences and strategies for dealing with the crisis. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it works.

Stay healthy, stay resilient and use the crisis as an opportunity,

Yours

Daniel Schilling
Editor-in-chief handling

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