2023 the year in review
In business as in so much else, planning, preparation and thinking strategically are vital. Execution to the best of your ability is crucial. And knowing that there are “unknowns” which can pop up at any time is essential. Even just being aware of this will help you not to panic when the unexpected happens. Without a good team around you preparation, execution and responding to the unexpected are much more difficult than they should be.
These are the tenets by which I have run Cardwave for nearly 20 years.
Each year brings its own new plans, new customers, new staff, and its own surprises. It is impossible to mention surprises without looking back to the Covid-19 pandemic, which came out of the blue, hit hard, and has left a lasting impression. I feel that Cardwave is only now really emerging from the effects of Covid-19 on our business and our people. It has been a factor in one very significant business change I made at Cardwave in 2023. And while we were a business that took care of our people before the pandemic, it has made me personally even more mindful of those around me.
But I am running ahead of myself. I wanted to spend some time looking at how Cardwave has evolved during 2023.
Closing the US office
Closing our office in the US was the biggest strategic decision I made all year. It was a decision I took while being very mindful of the team that had worked hard for the company during the eight years we were there, and of the achievement of our US office.
Many factors contributed to the decision, including the effects of Covid-19 which curtailed all business travel, had a profound effect on semiconductor production and the workflows of our customers, and thus on the amount of business we had. The aftershocks in terms of the supply of flash memory which is our bread and butter, and the return to some sort of pre-Covid state of demand for products, are only now really resolving themselves.
Taking stock of all this led me to think that maintaining our US office was a luxury rather than a necessity. The pandemic changed how our global business functions: we no longer need a US presence to meet customers, agree deals, evaluate progress and deliver product, to the same degree that we once did. We can ship packaged product globally, and have a proven record of doing so. We can show and tell in person, but often that’s required less frequently from our customers.
The cost of maintaining the US office was high in this context, and consolidating everything through our UK base has reduced costs. Personally I have also found that after the enforced break of the pandemic I was willing to revisit the question “do I need to travel to the US every six weeks?”, and the answer was “no”. I’ve released that time for more productive work in the UK office, reduced the stress levels involved in maintaining two physical bases, and even freed up some time for out of work activities. I feel that there have been benefits both for the business and for me personally.
Since closing the US office there has been zero adverse effect on the volume of business we have: we have lost no customers as a result of the closure, and our US customers remain committed to us.
A new quality management system
I have always regularly re-evaluated the software and services we use, both to help us with our own administration, and to enable us to provide high quality and responsive services to our customers. This is a continuous process, and the investments we make help us run an efficient and effective business.
Since Brexit, and with global markets more aware of areas such as environmental responsibilities, the avoidance of conflict minerals, use of ethical supply chains, the need to reduce or eliminate the use of plastics, and an increase in regulation and certification to show compliance with these and other requirements, our administrative burden has grown. This is not a bad thing, it is a necessary thing. As a business-to-business firm, we need to be mindful that we use appropriate software tools to communicate compliance well with both suppliers and customers.
So, as part of our continuous improvement ethic, we updated our quality management system, moving to a new bespoke solution (Activ), which allows us to continue to keep on top of growing requirements in this area of our work.
A new web site, and new materials
Throughout the year I continued the task of refreshing our web site, a job which started in 2022. Our web site is now a much cleaner, simpler place for people to find out about who we are and what we do. We now regularly publish Case Studies and Explainers (which demystify technical aspects of our work). We also published two Market Reports during the year – one in Spring and one in Autumn.
Taken together all of these are useful for existing and potential customers. It is the nature of web sites and the materials which are published there, that they are a work in progress, and I look forward to adding more in 2024.
Paying attention to packaging
While packaging has no relevance to the quality of our flash memory duplication services, it does have an impact on the appearance of the product we deliver to customers, and I would never want to send customers product that is poorly packaged: we always aim to provide an exemplary service in all respects.
This year we have been considering our environmental responsibilities. We use recyclable materials for packaging and distribution wherever possible, and as part of re-examining how we package our materials, we made efforts this year both to remove plastics as much as possible and to refine the design and manufacture of our packaging.
We work with suppliers who meet our requirements to demonstrate responsible and ethical sourcing of materials, and are able to do so without compromising our focus on using local suppliers. Supporting the local economy is important to us, and it comes with the added advantage of reducing travel distance for materials.
Looking after the team
In business your staff are your biggest asset. In the past few years in particular we’ve all seen many challenges, and even not taking the pandemic into account, for some of our team Cardwave is the only constant, or an important, stable factor in their lives.
I really do appreciate the loyalty of colleagues who keep the wheels turning, and it is my aim to be a considerate, supportive and flexible employer. I regard a relaxed but firm management style as essential.
That doesn’t mean fun is off the agenda. Quite the opposite in fact. I hope people find Cardwave is a pleasant and friendly workplace. This year I brought in “only on a Wednesday” – a time when I make tea and coffee for everyone. Not the instant stuff – a full-on menu of lattes, cappuccinos, flavoured syrups and a selection of toppings. This is an opportunity for me to check in with people on a one-to-one basis and make sure people know they are valued.
Reaping the rewards
In business as in life you can’t control everything, and those “unknowns” which can pop up at any time are inevitable. But we’ve not had a single unknown in 2023 that has floored us completely, and we’ve weathered the storms that have come our way without panic, but with a cool, calm knowledge that we’d get through them. And we have.
Alongside all the actions I’ve taken as the CEO of Cardwave this year, the whole team has pulled together to realise a number of achievements. Here are some of the bigger ones:
- Efficiency and outputs have gone up
- Skills across the staff team have gone up
- We have continued to provide world leading services to our customers, increased our customer base and nurtured potential new customers for 2024
- We joined the Living Wage Foundation
- We sailed through our ISO audits
- We have done our bit for the community and local groups
