As 2021 draws to a close, manufacturers are reflecting on how far they’ve come during the last year and a half. After halting production, reducing operations, or shifting to different products at the start of the pandemic, companies are now looking to climb out of the decline—and in some cases, are working harder than ever to keep up with demand. Here, manufacturers look at what they’ve learned during the pandemic, and how those lessons will shape their plans for the years ahead. 1. The Benefits of High Safety Standards COVID-19 created the need to introduce more contactless procedures in factories, along with safety gear for workers and fewer employees on site at a time. “This did decrease the risk of virus transmission between employees as intended, but it also reduced some of the dangers posed by basic, day-to-day manufacturing as a whole,” Dave King, vice president of sales at B.I.G. …