When the travel ban was issued in the middle of our factory move from Singapore to Vietnam, the experienced team based in Singapore couldn’t oversee and support the first batches of production in the brand-new factory in Vietnam. There was a risk that the project would be delayed until borders re-opened.

Anton says: “Together with my colleague Sara Khosravi, we procured a pair of augmented reality (AR) glasses. The R&D team in Singapore could then see what colleagues in Vietnam were seeing in real time. For the staff in Vietnam, it was a hands-free solution to get the needed support.”

Now we use AR throughout the integrated supply chain to overcome other COVID-19 related challenges.

“This experience is a great example of AkzoNobel’s deeply rooted culture of innovation,” says Anton. “I submitted an idea that quickly turned into a global project with a dedicated team. The solution is completely new for the company, and seven months later we’re ready to launch and scale up.”

He adds: “When it comes to my day-to-day work for the company, even though my department is small and niche, what we do really adds value to our customers. In addition to the adhesives, we also offer state-of-the-art machinery and software systems that optimize production. None of our competitors offer this – that might be why we’re industry leaders!

“The economist Theodore Levitt said: ‘Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things.’ Here at AkzoNobel, you’re encouraged to do both.”