Monthly Archives: June 2022

The challenge that small and medium-sized businesses experience in shifting to new and next-generation manufacturing processes is the harsh reality of today’s competitive corporate environment. Restructuring takes time and effort that could be otherwise spent on developing or maintaining business operations.

To face this challenge, these companies heavily rely on digitalization, automation, and cloud solutions which are the fundamental and possibly most significant notions to apply.  Many people are starting to realize that industry 4.0 will not only boost their position but will also revolutionize how firms operate in the near future.

The global pandemic we all lived in the past couple of years is ending and most firms are starting to return to their routine and “old” levels of productivity. Although, some companies are registering no difference whatsoever compared to last year, and it’s not due to a lack of motivation or refusal to come back to the office, but because during the more stagnated periods of confinement they saw an opportunity to automate and digitalize their processes, effectively eliminating remote work constrains and streamlining tasks which freed resources to focus on other areas.

Industry 4.0 is not a plan to ensure the survival of European manufacturing companies in the face of low-wage competition from other developing nations, as many people believe. Instead, it’s a shift to next-generation manufacturing technologies that will accelerate globalization, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses. I4.0 will create digital networks and ecosystems that in many cases will span the globe but will still retain distinct regional footprints, and both developed and developing markets stand to gain dramatically. This concept enables, for example, a machine in Germany to freely interact with machines in Asia and other parts of the world. This is especially critical for small and medium-sized businesses that rely on others to develop efficient ecosystems. Through selective partnerships, individuals in B2C are moving closer to B2B manufacturing as they can now have direct control over logistics and equipment overseas without the costly investment necessary in the past.

As a result, suppliers are undergoing restructuring with the goal of growing digital technologies in order to help clients become even more productive and sustainable. This growing movement is set to increase in the coming years and will allow more firms to have a bigger reach in the early stages of development as tailored production is now easier and cheaper than ever before.

Sean Randolph, Senior Director, Bay Area Council Economic Institute, author of the Innovation Platform Report: The Future of Global Technology and Innovation Collaboration in the San Francisco/Silicon Valley Bay Area

The event included 3 panel roundtables with a variety of leaders from Consulates, incubators and accelerators as well as venture capital firms and research centers. The report researched whether the Covid pandemic had negatively impacted the presence of foreign representation in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

While the pandemic saw most countries and foreign entities temporarily closing down their physical offices in 2020 and into 2021, a lot of them adapted and went virtual, or ended up offering a hybrid model of operation.  The key takeaways of the presentation of the report for LBC were the following:

• The majority of foreign centers have reopened in 2022 with a number increasing their activity in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• The core mission of the foreign presence remains unchanged: even though other locations across the US and the world have grown in significance, they believe the San Francisco Bay Area will remain the premier global center for innovation and the place where the script for Digitalization is being written.
• Many Consulates have now appointed “Tech Ambassadors” to their outposts in the San Francisco Bay Area. This move reflects the belief that digitalization and tech trends are still largely initiated here. Capturing these trends and momentum can help countries and start-ups form strategies and craft policies to help promote and better manage technology.
• Until now the European Union has been represented on a rotating basis by the Consuls General of European nations already represented in the region. In the Fall of 2022, the European Union will open a full time, professionally-staffed office in San Francisco. It appears this will be the only global office for the European Union outside a Capital city.

The report found that while the pandemic certainly paused activity of globally headquartered operations in the San Francisco Bay Area there is a resurgence of activity in 2022. The world of venture capital and unicorns has become more evenly distributed which is a good thing for start-ups and local ecosystems. LBC has witnessed the growth of other ecosystems where we are present: namely in Portugal where there has been a healthy growth of start-ups, in 2015 there was just one Portuguese unicorn in Farfetch. There are now 7.

However, the status of the San Francisco Bay Area as a global hub for technology development and innovation process remains strong. The Bay Area continues to have a significant volume of founders, lawyers, investors that have successfully failed and succeeded in scaling companies. It still has a concentration of leading universities, fueling the talent pool, encouraging risk taking and entrepreneurship and the creation of new companies.

And this is still a place where you can meet a founder from Europe and in the same day, or at the same event, meet several others from far flung places like India or Japan. With their presence in the Bay Area and focus on Innovation, Tech scouting and near shore, LBC is witnessing and contributing to the re-opening of Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area, participating with the likes of Axis Innovation and MasterCard, EDP and the Pasha Group to connect to thought leaders in Silicon Valley.

About LBC:

LBC is a boutique management and innovation consulting and digital transformation firm focused on high quality engagements. LBC has an offering specific to Innovation which is captured under our Global Strategic Innovation Programs. We’ve produced 37 immersion programs in Silicon Valley, involving more than 500 executives from several countries. Our next Global Strategic Innovation program will run from the 10^th to the 14^th October.