The Proverbial Line in the Sand
“ We pride ourselves on being the easiest to work with and the most transparent company in gaming , and as part of that , we look at it and say supply chain management was a definite struggle for a smaller manufacturer .”
— Dan Schrementi , President of Gaming , Incredible Technologies
“ I think we did a pretty good job at working with ( customers ) to roll with the changes that the floor needed during social distancing times .”
— Jean Venneman , Chief Operating Officer , Gaming Arts
produce some of its most creative work in spite of the mounting obstacles . According to Schrementi , the company plans to unveil the first-ever electronic table game with a Class II engine and a new cabinet in the coming weeks , both of which represent diamonds that formed as a result of the pandemic pressures .
“ All of that stress and pressure that went into the market , our team took that stress , harnessed it , and focused on building the best product at the price point that our customers want with a good catalog of themes and all of that kind of stuff in it to drive performance ,” he says . “ But what makes me proud of doing it is we did that all with less . Less people , less resources , less time , but because of the people working on it , we ’ re so focused and so passionate .”
A similar story can also be told for Gaming Arts — according to Chief Operating Officer Jean Venneman , the company faced times in which “ every single customer was closed ,” on top of the inability to source materials in a timely manner . “ On the product side , supply chain issues started to really become a problem in our production process ,” says Venneman . “ There were parts and peripherals that we just couldn ’ t get in a reasonable time frame , so we had to get creative to keep the production line moving .”
As a result , Venneman says she and the rest of her team “ took that time and opportunity to focus on the games and really tried to drill down on each one to make them the best they could be .” Constant communication both internally and externally also helped navigate the ship through a morass of dialogue and ever-evolving guidelines .
“ I think we did a pretty good job at working with ( customers ) to roll with the changes that the floor needed during social distancing times ,” she says .
The Proverbial Line in the Sand
Perhaps the most difficult part of analyzing the effects of the pandemic even now , three years later ,
is that unlike wars and hurricanes , there has yet to be and perhaps never will be an official “ end .”
As such , it then changes to a matter of simple perspective : is there such a thing as “ post-Covid ?” For land-based operators , suppliers and everyone in between , the tone of the conversation has shifted from hesitant and cautionary to matter-of-fact and preparatory .
“ I don ’ t really think there is necessarily a ‘ post- Covid ’ per se , because I think we ’ re still dealing with Covid even today ,” Birtha posits . “ And if there ’ s not Covid today , there more than likely might be something else tomorrow . I think we ’ re in more of a ‘ newer normal ,’ if you want to put a tagline phrase around it , because I think there ’ s clearly a higher level of sensitivity to health and safety and wellness in general .”
“ I ’ m no economist , but I don ’ t know that we look at it as ‘ post-Covid ’ ( at Ainsworth ),” adds Trask . “ I think that here we are at the beginning of 2023 and some of the things remain the same .
“ This is a content-driven business . We ’ ve invested massively in R & D post-Covid . How much of that ’ s impacted by Covid itself ? I ’ m not sure . But I can tell you that that content competition is fiercer than ever .”
In a fascinating way , the era of ultimate restraint has given rise to a time of ultimate freedom — freedom not in an economic or regulatory sense , but in a celebratory way . The pandemic , perhaps above all , caused the gaming industry to think , and think hard . Questions like , “ Do I really want to do this ?” and “ Will we make it ?” proved too much for many , which is understandable . Those who answered “ yes ,” however , have more clarity than ever . Indeed , those who climbed the mountain now bask in the incredible views that resulted .
“ I think there will be forever a change in how we view pandemics after ( Covid ),” Schrementi says . “ But I think all industries changed . I think there is no hard line in the sand of post-Covid … I think it got all of us to concentrate on really sticking to the core foundation of what our businesses are and learning how to operate through adversity , learning a lot about people throughout all of it .”
34 Global Gaming Business APRIL 2023