EDITOR’S LETTER
The Future after Covid-19 Richiedi la versione in italiano a info@ipcm.it
Anyone who thought that on 1 January we would put behind us a dramatic year, which saw the entire planet face a pandemic that has overturned everyone’s life in many ways, was wrong. Aware of being wrong. Indeed, the beginning of 2021 has been very similar to the end of 2020: fluctuating infection rates, openings and closures occurring all over the world (even Beijing is no different), new, frightening virus variants, and an underlying uncertainty that never goes away. However, whereas 2020 was a dark year, 2021 is bringing a light of hope, with the vaccines and the other tools that the global scientific community is making available for treating the sick and defeating this virus. The year 2021, therefore, is offering us one or more reasons of hope and optimism – which do not allow us to plan for the short-term future, yet, but do give us a glimpse of a return to normality. Even Morgan Stanley, just before Christmas, stated that the arrival of vaccines, whose effectiveness has been confirmed to be higher than 50%, and the rise in markets experienced last November make more concrete the possibility of returning to some sort of “normality” in the second half of 20211. In the meantime, we must not give up. The fastest countries to reach herd immunity will be the biggest drivers of recovery. Although difficult in a somewhat shaky market environment, with rising raw material costs and continuing restrictions on international travel, companies must not give in to the temptation to deconstruct themselves, so as to be ready to face the future huge demand from the market, especially from those countries that have suffered the most from the pandemic crisis. Covid-19 has set the pace for the transition to a digitally driven economy. The year 2020 has taught us that everything (or almost everything) can be done “remotely” or online. The question, however, is: can everything be done as well as with a traditional approach? The answer is no (or at least not everything). On the other hand, opening digital channels and investing in flexibility, dynamism, and the possibility to reinvent oneself are not only ways to survive in the current context, but also the key to corporate development in the future post-Covid environment. I am therefore very happy to open this editorial year with the success stories of several companies that, by virtue of their ability to reorganise, invest in technology, team up, and develop industrially, closed 2020 without any major shocks and opened 2021 with a positive market outlook. On the following pages, you will find numerous reports on new product launches, projects combining technology and sustainability (another key to succeed in future), and finishing processes designed for new additive manufacturing techniques. And some words spent on ipcm®’s projects. Indeed, we also closed 2020 successfully despite several difficulties (you will find a video review on page 28) and started 2021 with many big news, from our ipcm®_Academy course (which will finally be able to certify professional Industrial Surface Finishing Process Technologists) to our ambitious ipcm®OnAir project (which combines virtual and real-life features in a television format, in order to offer to the industry an opportunity to meet in the absence of events and trade fairs). From this ipcm® issue on, moreover, you will find a new section, The Marketing Corner, presenting original content to guide you through the world of digital communication. Finally, there is a small technical innovation that makes the digital version much easier to read: an interactive table of contents. By clicking on the title of each article in the table of contents, you will be taken directly to your page of interest. A little improvement to make ipcm®’s user experience even better.
Alessia Venturi Editor-in-chief Direttore Responsabile
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https://www.morganstanley.com/im/en-la/intermediary-investor/insights/articles/the-year-ahead-the-roaring-20s-or-the-scary-20s.html
international PAINT&COATING magazine - JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 - N. 67
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