The world has changed, and so has the way we do business. We took this opportunity to reflect on how our operations have been transformed and how we make use of the tools at our disposal to stay in contact and better serve our customers.
We’ve kept a close eye on the situation and remained in constant communication with our customers, albeit in a rather different way.
As always, planning is key!
As with any business, comprehensive planning has been key to managing every aspect of our operations. Managing inventory, juggling tasks and projects, and handling sales orders: all require careful planning to keep things running smoothly.
Whether we’re planning for one of our branches, partnering with a business for consignment stock, or working with a customer, teamwork and keeping each other updated on new activities or jobs is crucial to ensuring that there’s enough inventory in place. Maintaining support for everyone is also a priority; after all, MBI Global’s values include reliability, and that applies to customer support as much as our to core drilling solutions.
We also know that a strong network is important. We can serve the entire country thanks to our headquarters in Rouyn-Noranda and office in Val-d’Or (Quebec) supporting Eastern Canada; an office and warehouse in Saskatoon (Saskatchewan) supporting Central and Western Canada; distributors in Thunder Bay (Ontario) and Delta (British Columbia) supporting their respective provinces; and an office in Whitehorse (Yukon) supporting Northern Canada. For the entire network, we know that constant communication is essential to keeping things running smoothly, covering all of our territory, and making sure all needs are being met.
The new normal!
Like most businesses, we’ve had to adjust to the new reality of the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s led us to make some changes so that we can continue operating to the best of our abilities.
Maintaining our usual service is at the center of our business, as it has always been. The restrictions brought on by the pandemic have certainly transformed our day-to-day communications. Where we once would visit clients and their job sites, meet in person to discuss their needs; office calls have now been replaced by our technical means, we now video conference, send text messages, email or talk on the phone more than we ever did before. The means were already there, we just did not need to use them as much, out of necessity.
Looking to the future!
With our manufacturing plant in the province of Québec servicing the entire country, we will eventually also consider having inventory locations in Ontario.
Moving forward, we’ll see how the market develops. Each area has different seasonal needs; for instance, there’s much more summertime drilling in BC and up north. Meanwhile, Ontario and Quebec have more underground drilling so activities are more consistent throughout the year, with only small breaks in the spring and fall.
As always in the industry, the price of minerals and metals like gold, copper, and nickel directly impact where people are working and need our solutions. We’re always looking for the best indicators of where we’ll see the most activity in the coming year so that we can position our operations accordingly.
We’ve also seen more information storage, inventory management, and document exchange in our ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system as a result of the restrictions. As time goes on, people are becoming more comfortable with videoconferencing and doing business remotely. In the past, we were all used to taking notes with a notepad out in the field, but even the less tech-savvy among us have started to get used to our new reality. It all comes down to adapting, remaining flexible, and making sure customers can stay in touch. People are realizing that technology makes notes clearer and easier to put in an effective order. It also lets us follow up and make sure that all the information is correct.
We also need to remain available to people working out in the bush who might not have cell reception or an Internet connection until the evening. That takes a different type of flexibility.
It all comes down to maintaining the quality products and competitive pricing that are synonymous with the MBI Global brand.
Find out more about our complete core drilling solutions here: http://www.mbiglobal.ca/en/contact/
Stay on the lookout for Part 2 of this blog where we talk about our focus, our leading products and our view of the future for our industry and our business sector. Coming soon!
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