When will travel return?

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Viewing 15 posts - 31 through 45 (of 105 total)

  • ASK1945
    Participant

    [postquote quote=995446][/postquote]

    I am involved with two organisations who have been using Zoom. Following the Sunday Times article we effected new security arrangements such that the meeting ID numbers and passwords are only obtained by direct emails to participants (with the usual security) and the appointment of just one person responsible for “hosting”, one of whose roles is to monitor constantly who is joining a meeting and block anyone who is not supposed to be there.

    Outwith these organisations, I took part in a one-hour memorial service last night on Zoom, with at one point 494 devices logged in; it was fully controlled, and without incident.


    ontherunhome
    Participant

    Apart from the travel issues, one thing that is crystal clear, is the world relies too much on China to make stuff for us. We must look long and hard at having things made in the UK, and as consumers must demand that we have a choice, or better still force retailers to buy British or locally. Then as consumers we can support home made products. maybe then China will put its house in order. Business as usual cannot happen again.

    3 users thanked author for this post.

    K1ngston
    Participant

    My organisation is using Microsoft Teams with great results both through the Mac and Windows platform its easy, reliable and secure, I am highly impressed, there was a all hands call yesterday with over 300 people on it globally and there was a bit of lag which is internet related but totally secure and locally we speak every other day with video on so that we feel we are with our colleagues and it is highly supported here in APAC……


    GivingupBA
    Participant

    [postquote quote=995474][/postquote]

    I see your points and understand you, but that looks like protectionism to me. I prefer free trade. And personally I don’t agree with “force retailers to buy British or locally”. Any consumer can choose and support home made products if they wish to do so.


    Swissdiver
    Participant

    [postquote quote=995497][/postquote]

    It depends on the meaning given to “force”. I would hate to see tariffs. But other forms of incentives are all right, in particular detailed information on the origin of the goods to help the consumers deciding! Traceability should be fully implemented.

    1 user thanked author for this post.

    ontherunhome
    Participant

    By Force I meant consumers not buying. The problem is once on the supermarket shelf, it is too late. have you noticed how many products have a Union jack on them, and then the words Designed in UK, not made in UK. The current crisis shows how much we need to bring manufacturing home, and the food supply issues etc. I am all for free trade, but when it is so unbalanced, it is not really free.

    1 user thanked author for this post.

    fatbear
    Participant

    I hope that the rationale for switching production to the Far East may come under closer scrutiny for some Companies. In Companies I worked for, it was all about the production cost savings. There wasn’t always sufficient consideration of factors such as quality, additional inspection costs when goods received, higher freight costs, lead times to manufacturer, time spent on the slow boat etc. That’s someone else’s budget !

    One post audit revealed that overall costs would have been lower to have located the manufacturing of the product close to Stuttgart ( where the machinery was purchased from ), rather than moving the machinery to the factory in China, as the labour costs were not a significant percentage of the overall cost of production. Another move to China resulted in inferior product going onto the market, and the complete destruction of a respected brand. I have several other examples where moving prodcution resulted in either less future sales, or the overall cost savings were not realised. However, anyone who queried the decisions to move manufacturing to China at the time was considered to be in need of “paradigm changes”……

    The days of automatically assuming making goods in China is the most effective should hopefully be replaced by more intelligent decision making ?

    1 user thanked author for this post.

    fatbear
    Participant

    Forgot to mention I did work for one company that closed its production of a product in China and moved it to the UK as the global market perception was that the quality of UK made product was higher than China, and customers were willing to pay extra for a premium product.

    1 user thanked author for this post.

    Tom Otley
    Keymaster

    I too read the concerns about Zoom but have struggled to find alternatives for video conferencing with external participants.

    We have Microsoft Teams for work, and that’s fine for internal video conferences, where necessary, but forvVideo conferencing externally at this rate I might have to go back to the dreaded Skype!

    1 user thanked author for this post.

    canucklad
    Participant

    [quote quote=995522]The days of automatically assuming making goods in China is the most effective should hopefully be replaced by more intelligent decision making ?[/quote]

    I’m all for free trade and the great benefit of trading with China is the ability to use it as leverage.
    The reason why we’re having this global meltdown , having dodged the bullet several times previously since the millennium isn’t the movement of products around the globe but more to do with people who’ve become infected due to close proximity of absolutely shocking animal husbandry.

    Leverage is our biggest deterrent to rid or at least significantly reduce the threat of another pandemic by linking trade to public health.

    When a manmade disaster occurs, it’s investigated and then fixes put into place. This pandemic could have been avoided if China had resolved their animal husbandry (Wet Markets) issues when we first understood the link between these markets and viruses jumping species .

    Simply put, the danger to our lives isn’t the cheap products but the movement of people . Consider how many times in the last 20 years we’ve come close to what we’re now experiencing and correlate it with the significant rise in movement of a once travel suppressed people ?

    1 user thanked author for this post.

    Tramor01
    Participant

    I worked on a project for a client last week where I had to conduct interviews with staff using Microsoft Teams
    Each interview lasted around an hour or so, and I was able to see the staff member and share charts, diagrams etc with them.
    I conducted these interviews with staff in Germany, France, Belgium, Poland, Russia, Czech Republic USA, Brazil and Argentina without any issue.


    esselle
    Participant

    Back to the point of future cruise bookings, UBS have published a note saying that bookings for 2021 are running at 9% higher than for the equivalent period in 2020. It doesn’t say with any clarity how prices compare, but it is an interesting indicator nonetheless.


    canucklad
    Participant

    [quote quote=995534]UBS have published a note saying that bookings for 2021 are running at 9% higher than for the equivalent period in 2020.[/quote]

    I suspect there will be a bit of ,

    ” Now that I’ve endured my dietary regime for the last 6 months and foregone the pleasures of beer, crème brulee and double topped pizza ,I’m going to head out, get bladdered , get a Chinese take-away on the way home (including starters )and then finish the night off with a big bowl of Baileys infused Ice cream before heading to bed ”

    syndrome going on.


    capetonianm
    Participant

    It is interesting, specially considering that there has been an increase in capacity with a number of new mega-ships coming on stream.


    openfly
    Participant

    It’s only taken a few days. Etihad and Emirates announce they are to restart their services to Europe and, in particular, to London. Emirates are operating into LHR with pax and cargo and returning as cargo only. So they bring their CV stricken pax here but don’t take any pax back. No, no, no!
    We are, at last, heeding the warnings and in lockdown where we can in the U.K. Our government is going to permit the ME3 to possibly continue reinfecting us. Hardly any point in lockdown if you live and work near an airport.

Viewing 15 posts - 31 through 45 (of 105 total)
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