Global Supply Chain / Parts Shortages

We are all being affected by this in our lives one way or another but it seems to be getting worse. Everyone knows about the chip shortages affecting the auto industry but it doesn't stop there. I'm a PM for a company which manufactures indoor and outdoor warning systems. We design, engineer and manufacture systems that use SCADA based technology that communicates via satellite, cellular, LMR, IP ect.. We integrate our equipment into DOD systems, fire alarm systems, oil rigs, existing PA systems and deploy systems from scratch from the ground up. This whole supply chain debacle is kicking our ass over here especially with electronic parts shortages. We can't build circuit boards and / or procure parts to put systems together. It a daily struggle with lead times that seem to increase every time I follow up with vendors.

Tell me about your headaches and how you envision this playing out over the next calendar year. It does not look good to me. Could this all be due to the pandemic or is something else going on with global trade / tariffs / geopolitics / trade war with China? Very complicated questions and I know there's are not straight answers to any of this.

 

Danger, Will Robinson!

 

No today, Satan.


It's a trap.

 

I'm under the automotive umbrella where I'm an engineer for Toyota.

I'm having a hard time getting my parts in for equipment upgrades. Makes it hard to schedule installations, and we're having to keep kicking the bucket down the road.

 

My stock orders are usually 3 week turn around.Now they are 2 and half months plus and one of my last ones,I only got a 3rd of the order.Everything from no powder for injection molding to labor issues do to fed covid top ups

 

My supply never seems to falter.

Does suck from the standpoint of kinda-sorta-maybe thinking about replacing the 2003 F150 though.

 

I've been trying to buy various pieces of equipment for the last 3 months. nada.

 

The food supply chain is the most fragile just in time model of them all. Expect any disruption in food supplies to impact your business about one quick nap later. Watch what happens in England over the next few weeks.

 

Yep, the chickens are really coming home to roost there.

 

Bar joists are 12 month out
Metal buildings were 7 months out 4 months ago
Welded wire mesh sheets are several months out

the list goes on

 

I'm in residential building supply. All manufactured items are on insane lead times. Some companies are consolidating product lines to help, but that also hurts the homebuyers options.

 

add paint to the list. Sherwin Williams has stopped making some product lines. HVAC systems, refrigerant, you name it.

 

More fun (problematic) than the supply chain shortages is a bigger issue with trucking. A good friend of mine is the Cxx of a larger trucking company up here in Washington state. We were talking about this & that and he said the big problem is going to be a shortage of truck drivers as a majority of the ones that work for his company are not strong vax folks and with the impending POTUS mandate, he estimates he will loose more than 3/4 of his drivers. This will cripple stores ability to stock their shelves. (his company does single pallet short haul from distribution to end customer) He feels that this is an industry wide issue as well.

They have been struggling to find enough drivers already as are most trucking company's. So, even if supply chain picks up, not having a way to delivery them will greatly impact everything, everyone, across the board and things can and will slowly grind to halt.

The company I work for is already seeing this with much delayed shipments through DHL and their partners. (the dock to customer side)
I got another email from DHL this morning stating they anticipate further delays coming soon.

Stock up on sh!tter paper gentlemen, its about to get stinky!

 

The building of K-12 schools has been greatly impacted. The situation is evident in every step of the process.
Bonds are impossible to pass with angry stakeholders.
Deadlines are impossible to meet with changing lead times.
Costs overrun within minutes of estimates due to raw materials.
Furniture is late.
Installers impossible to find as they have all failed.
Supplies are late.
Textbooks are late.
ALL of it costs a fortune to ship.

Its brutal.

 

Speaking of shipping, container ships are sop backed up in Savannah with to few unloading the ships at dockside, that there are way too many sitting that cannot even enter the port.

 

I'm the street helmet buyer for Cycle Gear. It has been a mess and we're expecting it to continue for at least another year. Insane how much the container rates have gone up since pre-COVID.

 

I know a fellow here in NC who owns a large construction company that does big road projects. Said he can't get steel for the bridges, so they just sit and wait.

I've always said about out tiny ass business, that applies to all........If you don't have it you can't sell it. If you don't sell shit, the wheels of the economy begin to come off. I dread the fuck out of another deep recession.

 

Most frightening is the fact that alcohol shortages are happening around the country now...

 

Business opportunity!

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Are with me?