From household goods and electronics to raw materials, the global supply chain shortage is ongoing and affecting just about every industry. At MetroWall, we worked to combat these issues before they even began. Disruptions started around the time the Covid pandemic emerged but challenges to the construction and building industry are taking considerably longer than expected to normalize – but why? And how do MetroWall’s manufacturing processes address the issue?
What is the global supply chain?
The global supply chain is an invisible pathway that takes goods from where they’re manufactured or grown, to where they need to go. From raw material to end user. The supply chain regularly crosses not just borders but oceans too.
Why has it been affected
Disruptions to the supply chain began in early 2020. Factories and manufacturing plants were hit hard by Covid 19. Many were shut down and others were forced to work at drastically reduced capacity.
It’s not simply a matter of “ah, Covid”, though. In response to an anticipated drop in sales during the early days of the pandemic, shipping companies greatly reduced their scheduling but customers didn’t stop spending, they just spent their money elsewhere. So, while spending at restaurants and movie theatres fell, spending in areas like home renovations and Covid-secure workspaces skyrocketed. Building companies responded to this by ordering in bulk.
The steep surge in demand combined with fewer ships to transport goods, clogged the system. Combine this with labor issues and a shortage of shipping containers and you’ve got yourself a perfect storm.
When will the shortages end?
The answer to this isn’t entirely clear (we can now add severe weather events like Hurricane Ida and foreign political upheavals like Brexit to the mix), but it seems likely that these issues will continue well into 2022.
How are MetroWall circumventing the issue?
It could be argued that such an issue was inevitable – many companies have purposely been keeping lean inventories to limit costs for years but at Metrowall, we do things a little differently. We’ve always believed in holding large quantities of inventory in stock. In the past, this has allowed us to have the fastest lead times in New York and right now, it allows us to buck the trend of delays and shortages and deliver on our 3-4 week lead time promise.
Many companies source materials internationally to save on costs but at MetroWall, we’ve always sourced locally. Not only does this give us greater control and flexibility, it’s also good for the community and helps the environment by reducing shipping and storage. It’s also given us the chance to build strong connections and strategic agreements with our vendors to allow for uninterrupted supply. And, right now, it’s helping us sidestep industry-wide issues caused by heavy reliance on the shipping industry.
At MetroWall, we’re a one-stop shop. We control the entire process (manufacturing through install), we do our own deliveries so we’re not affected by shipping bottlenecks or vehicle shortages and we always have and always will forecast our inventory against demand.
Supply Chain shortage or no, at MetroWall we’re sticking fast to our 3-4 week lead time.
Want to work with us?
Get in touch today to find out how our 3-4 week lead times could transform your workspace sooner than our competitors.
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