During the Procurement Session on Procurement, Engineering & Housekeeping at the 6th edition of BW HOTELIER Indian Hospitality Summit and Awards, panellists felt the period of the pandemic was one of new learnings and innovations

One thing common that all the panellists mentioned during the discussion on Procurement, Engineering & Housekeeping at the 6th edition of BW HOTELIER Indian Hospitality Summit and Awards was that a lot of innovations took place during the period of the pandemic. And that a lot of focus was laid on on data and analytics that will empower us in the future.

“There is a need to realise the importance of team spirit. As long as there is team spirit and shared understanding of each other’s working processes, a lot of issues get resolved,” felt Sudhir Gupta, Head – Procurement, ITC Ltd – Hotels Division. He added that there has been a sharp focus on delivering business and it has increased collaboration with different stakeholders. New ways of using technologies have come into play and work can be done without physical meetings. what we learned from the Covid-19 pandemic, and it also compelled us to take risks. Gupta was one of the panellists at one of the sessions on Procurement, Engineering & Housekeeping at the 6th edition of BW HOTELIER Indian Hospitality Summit and Awards in New Delhi. The session was moderated by Nitin Nagrale, Founder, Hospitality Purchasing Managers Forum (HPMF). 

Indira Paul, Corporate Executive Housekeeper South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group agreed that the learnings during the pandemic did a lot of good. “There was an increased focus on the importance of hygiene and touch-free housekeeping. We have been fortunate that we were able to turn the pressure that all of us felt during the pandemic into some kind of a passion,” she said, adding that in this area, knowledge sharing, and specification and clarity of communication are extremely important and ultimately, knowledge is power. 

On the takeaways from the pandemic, Rothin Banerjee, Area Director of Engineering - Delhi & NCR, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and J&K, said, “During that period, we encountered numerous challenges, especially manpower shortage but by revisiting the books and fundamentals of the system, we were able to regenerate it in entirety, leading it back to normalcy. In this process, we also went back to the engineering system and books.”

In agreement with Banerjee was Ouseph Francis, VP - Procurement, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts. “The pandemic showed us how low things could go but what we learned was that resilience is the only characteristic that will keep us alive,” he said. Francis also focussed on the resilient infrastructure in the hospitality business but added one can never and should never ignore teamwork. “We emerged more powerful due to our teamwork, and one should live everyday like it is their last day,” he added.