2021 Is Coming: New Year, New Beginning

The end of the calendar year is traditionally a time to reflect on the twelve months just past. While the tendency towards nostalgia must be resisted, it is not without a sense of longing that we look back to the start of 2020: a time when a day working from home was a rare treat and Corona was a beer to be enjoyed after a long day at the office.

While fortune telling is always something of a risky business, no one could have predicted the year that the world has just experienced. Despite this, there is no time like the present to start thinking about the future. In this post, we look back at a historic, if turbulent, year and outline our bold vision for 2021 and beyond.

An Unprecedented Challenge

Where else to start but the (baby) elephant in the room? Covid-19 has defined 2020 and will continue to play a significant role into the early months of 2021 and beyond. Naturally, the consequences of the pandemic on the office furniture industry have been extremely significant. In an illness-ravaged world where so few people go to the office, large-scale investments in office space have been pushed onto the backburner for many companies, and the knock-on effects on the wider business community have been profound.

Of course, we are not immune from the effects of lockdowns and shelter-in-place orders, as a business or as a collection of individuals. The latter is especially pertinent: for the LOGICDATA team, the human side of the crisis has been the most difficult to swallow. For almost a year, we have been greatly restricted in the face-to-face contact that spreads joy through our working lives. We miss the excitement of the trade fairs, the visits to our customers and suppliers, and – as we continue to work from home – we miss each other too.

Light in the Dark

Despite the challenges that 2020 has launched into our trajectory, 2020 hasn’t all been bad news. In fact, we have achieved much this year that we are proud of and will stand us in good stead for the future. Here are just a few reasons to look back fondly on the last twelve months:

1. We’re still working!

Firstly, we have managed to keep business moving: no easy feat for an internationally-focused company in the current circumstances. We have kept up with orders, kept lines of communication open, and maintained positive relations with customers and suppliers alike. This final point undoubtedly the most important. We have always considered our partners to be our friends, and while bonhomie is never to hard to summon when the going is good, true friendship is to be there for each other in the tough times as well. By sticking together according to ideals of respect and trust, we’ll come through the current crisis together.

2. We’ve taken the trade show online!

Secondly, through projects such as LOGICx, we have tried to rekindle some excitement in the future and offer you a glimpse into our development journey. LOGICx was never a planned release for us, its existence owes itself entirely to the Covid-19 crisis and the cancellation of NeoCon, the most important furnishings tradeshow in the US. However, the fact that we managed to put together a great virtual alternative to the conference in such a short period of time is a testament to the dedication and skill of the team.

Read more about LOGICx, our virtual tradeshow experience, in this blog post.

3. We’ve widened our range!

Last, but by no means least, was the official release of a brand-new portfolio LOGICservice: another major success in this difficult year. LOGICservice is a unique range of resources enables our partners to get the very best out of their LOGICDATA-powered systems. From the customization of stunning user-facing elements to optimization services for sound, performance, and compliance, the goal of LOGICservice is to facilitate the production of better adjustable table systems in future, which is exactly what we’re going to do.

Find out how you can optimize your product line with LOGICservice in this blog post.

Defining Our Future

For most people however (and it would be untrue to say the thought hadn’t crossed our minds too), the main positive of 2020 is that it is almost over. This raises another important question: what’s next?

Eventually, coronavirus will end, and the “new normal” we have become accustomed too will not seem quite so normal anymore. How the future will look is a subject of great debate around the world with more questions than answers. Theories from fully-remote companies, to Covid-secure workspaces, to a simple return to the status quo have all been floated, but we expect the reality to lie somewhere between the three.

Once the dust has settled, the outlook of the modern office will come down to three aspects: how well new products are aligned with post-Covid regulations, what returning office workers actually want from their workspaces, and – most importantly – how much the new technology will cost to implement. It is for this reason that we cannot stop innovating, and why we will continue to work together with our partners to bring the ultimate in ergonomic working solutions.

What will the office environment look like in a world after coronavirus? Find out in this blog post.

Yet times remain uncertain, and the longer the current crisis lasts, the more different our business will look when it emerges on the other side. It is for this reason that our focus throughout 2020 and into the future is on both the challenges of the now and those of the future. We will strive tirelessly to bring solutions to the demands of our industry in these troubled times, simultaneously developing products that will (r)evolutionize adjustable furniture long after Covid-19 has passed.

Hope and Joy

These demanding circumstances require bold characters and innovative ideas. Fortunately, boldness and innovation is what LOGICDATA has always been about. Now, more than ever, is the time to stick together. The future for LOGICDATA and our industry remains bright. Of course, our commitment to innovation means that change will happen, but we are confident it will be change for the good.

In this faith, all that is left is to wish you and your families and peaceful holiday season and a prosperous start to 2021. From the entire LOGICDATA team, Merry Christmas!

Read our Christmas Message 2020 to learn about our year just gone and catch a glimpse of our vision for 2021 xmas2020.logicdata.net.