How to invest now to expedite Covid-19 recovery process

WHAT a difference nine months makes. In early 2020, business leaders across the world were focusing on becoming "lean" by finding ways to boost outputs while reducing inputs. Aided by process management tools such as Six Sigma and Lean Management, companies emphasised the cost side of the ledger.

Many manufacturers had successfully achieved their objective of driving inventory down to as close to zero as possible, deploying just-in-time production and using trucks, roads, rail and ships as warehouses. Internet searches for "save cost" outstripped those for "increase revenue" over the past 15 years, often by a factor of more than two, earlier this year.

The pandemic up-ended all that in one fell swoop.