OUR PARTNERS in times of the coronavirus

Representatives of our leading partners – MiX Telematics and Continental – shared their insights on functioning in a time of pandemic. Like all global corporations, also these manufacturers were forced to adapt to new realities and unexpected market situations.

Interview with Mr. Jonathan Bates – Marketing Director at MiX Telematics.

TELEMATICS as an effective management tool in times of pandemic

MiX Telematics, a manufacturer of telematics systems provides information and related services for the effective management of mobile assets, including vehicles used for private and commercial purposes in over 100 countries, on six continents. Did the new technologies introduced by the company enable it to maintain a stable market position in times of pandemic? We asked about that Mr. Jonathan Bates – Marketing Director.

Drabpol News: MiX Telematics has always been guided by the principle of creating systems that solve customers' problems. Can we expect new product solutions in the current situation with COVID-19?

Jonathan Bates: MiX has one of the broadest product portfolios of any telematics provider globally, with our customer success teams finding new and innovative applications for our products every day.

This has been very evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, with new problems calling for new solutions. For example, MiX's task management application has been used by drivers and their employers as a way to keep communication channels open digitally, with drivers self-certifying before each shift that they don't have any discernible COVID-19 symptoms.

This provides an important checkpoint every day between employer and driver, in addition to regular verbal communication, boosting safety and productivity, providing digital tools to keep in touch.

Furthermore, the visibility that MiX's solutions provides has been invaluable to fleet operators during a very challenging time. This visibility is critical to operators who are either experiencing drastically reduced demand or increased demand. In the case of decreased demand such as for bus and coach companies, operators have been using MiX's tracking tools and reporting suite to re-assess the optimum utilisation of their assets to maximise cost efficiency.

In the case of increased demand such as for food delivery or field service companies, operators are using MiX's tools to increase productivity, whilst using video telematics and hours of service modules to ensure that drivers are supported in terms of safe driving and not driving when fatigued. Live streaming to ride along with a driver to live “in their shoes” is a particularly effective way to support drivers during potentially more stressful times. These tools help operators to balance extraordinarily busy schedules with the need to have especially caring safety programmes in place to ensure that drivers aren't being put under too much pressure to deliver without taking into account their safety and wellbeing.

DN.: What actions did MiX Telematics take to support its regional partners and service buyers during the pandemic?

J.B.: MiX Established a pandemic response committee comprising the most senior executives from across the globe, who meet regularly to leverage advice from the WHO and CDC as guidance. MiX has also been proactive in running a partner education programme via its e-learning platform – the MiX Learning Centre - to share key information that helps partners to understand the facts about the Coronavirus.

Additionally, MiX has been leveraging technology to conduct meetings with partners using virtual tools. Best-practice webinars have been run progressively with partners to maintain the communication and customer service that our customers expect and deserve from us.

MiX has supported partners by continuing to manufacture and deliver products and re-assuring partners and customers that its SaaS software platform and valued added services will continue to be available and managed 24/7.

DN.: What does MiX Telematics forecast for the telematics market in Europe and in the world. Was a new trend created during this time, and if so, will it stay with us for a long time?

J.B.: MiX has been monitoring daily, weekly and monthly customer activity across its 818k+ subscriber base and has seen trends vary widely by customer industry of operation. We envisage that the trend of digital-ordering of essential supplies and consumer goods is unlikely to abate following the pandemic.

The world is certainly in flux and we do anticipate that the digitalization of the supply chain and of customer and partner interaction will be accelerated by the outbreak of COVID-19. It is also our hope that the positive environmental impact will continue to be supported by the combined efforts of telematics partners and customers, to seek to build greener, more efficient operations. Additionally, this pandemic has caused the world to look at safety and reliability of supply in more vital terms than ever before. We envisage that this focus on health and safety for all individuals and fleet operators will continue into the future.

Mr. Jonathan Bates – Marketing Director at MiX Telematics

Our task management application has been used, for example, by drivers and their employers as a way to keep communication channels open digitally, with drivers self-certifying before each shift that they don't have any discernible COVID-19 symptoms. Live streaming to ride along with a driver is a particularly effective way to support drivers in a time of pandemic.

How does Continental react on pandemic?

German manufacturer, as one of the leading providers of smart technologies for the automotive market also had to face the unexpected pandemic. This global corporation has 246 production plants around the world. Since mid-March, over 40 percent of them has stopped production for a period from several days to several weeks. At the beginning of May, only one-fifth of the production plants has ceased operations– in particular those located in the USA, Mexico, Russia and India. We asked Dr Thomas Olbrich, Director, Business Unit CVS – Commercial Vehicles & Services – in Continental Automotive, about the impact of that on company's situation and about further development perspectives.

Drabpol News: Continental Corporation is a global company. How did the markets of individual countries react to the situation caused by Covid-19?

Thomas Olbrich: The Covid-19 pandemic affects all regions and all markets. We see that some regions seem to have already recovered strongly and that their production volumes in some cases come back close to the 2019 values – see China. However, this can not be generalized.

There are commercial vehicles plants in Asia that announced a complete shut-down extension to December 2020 already.

Economy in the US was very strong for several years now. There was a “cooling down” of economics parameters to be expected for 2020 – now overlaid by Covid-19 effects. Generally we expect for 2020 that the sales reduction in North America might be even somehow larger than in Europe.

D.N.: Continental constantly develops its existing products and creates new dedicated to the OEM market, in particular vehicle factories. Does the current situation on the market affect the pace of technology development?

T.O.: The pace of technology development has changed due to the Covid-19 crisis. Vehicles manufacturers have delayed or stopped development programs. “Cash-is-king” – this is a maxime to recover this crisis – and this also strongly affects technology development. However, out of any crisis there are also new and extra opportunities coming up.

D.N.: What do you think are the forecasts for the OEM automotive market in Europe, for this and next year. Did the changes causes by the pandemic start a new, unexpected trend?

T.O: For the passenger car markets, there is a strong political will to move towards electric cars. On top, there is a trend discussed that consumer may demand fewer cars than the years before. Through the Covid-19 crisis, there is a strong volume decline in 2020 and it is not clear if or when the 2019 will be reached again.

The commercial vehicles markets do severely suffer from the Covid-19 crisis through plant shut-downs and the resulting market unsecurity. However, it can be expected – and this is what we can see already now to some extend – that the markets will pick up soon, again.

Dr Thomas Olbrich, Director, Business Unit CVS – Commercial Vehicles & Services – in Continental Automotive

The company having subsidiaries in 59 countries had to face huge challenges in a time of pandemic. However, it quickly and effectivelly set two goals- protection of employees' health and maintaining the supply chain. The task was not an easy one , taking into account the global nature of the business and pandemic differentiation in each of the countries. While China has largely returned to normality, Germany and Europe are slowly recovering from „the lockdown”, North America is also still struggling with the coronavirus.