Supply chains are in haywire mode?

Hearing it from most of our customers and we've got them as well. PA66 on 12 week lead times. Toolmakers struggling to get carbon for electrodes. Brass inserts on 3-4 month lead times.

Mind you Brexit hasn't helped.

We actually had a huge blow out on this at our facility just yesterday where a planned board build project is delayed weeks due to component issues. Things that we normally had 3 week lead times on are indefinite, we struggle to find replacements and it's knocking our own lead time back by weeks. It's become a massive disruption to our business and it seems to only be getting worse.

Miner said:

Supply chain disruptions appear to be occurring all over. We are experiencing a lot of disruptions in electronic components as well.

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I wanted to ask you, Miner - what are you doing to navigate the disruptions? They're really hurting our small OEM. Does anyone know what the root cause is? Is this COVID fall out/aftermath?

I don't know the details as we are a large, global company, but we are working 6-7 days a week to keep up with demand.

Here are a few articles on causes:

• Why We’re in the Midst of a Global Semiconductor Shortage
• https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/10/whats-causing-the-chip-shortage-affecting-ps5-cars-and-more.html

My wife sells durable medical equipment mostly sourced from China. Orders are picking up and their competitors who had more stable supply logistics are eating their lunch. Why? Profits. I've heard it said in the USA we "Drive it till it breaks" and I think this is true. The more leveraged you are to outside forces the higher your risk but mitigation is rarely chosen because that's preventive action that takes away from corporate value in the short term. Short-term thinking.

Here is the global Computer Scenario and spime in demand since 2020

janelevisss said:

I suppose it's all because of worldwide economic inflation...

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No, this started well before inflation. It started when supplier facilities were closed as a result of the pandemic then were slow in reopening. Add the problems at the shipping ports and you have the current mess.

janelevisss said:

I suppose it's all because of worldwide economic inflation...

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I am not an economist, but I understood it the other way around. Supply chain shortages are leading to inflation because you have low supply and high demand.

Pandemic hits, and product and raw / semifinished materials stop being produced.
Product is not being product, but is still needed (i.e., no one's making computer chips, but people are buying electronics out the wazoo to work from home, school from home; no one's making cars, but cars still crash, break down, etc.).
Product starts being produced again, all fighting for the same raw / semifinished materials.
Everyone making product starts throwing around money to compete for the raw / semifinished materials, so prices on those materials skyrocket.
Companies realize people will pay whatever number they throw out for products they need because no one can make enough of them.

Which leads us to our current situation: Record profits for some companies and high prices for products and materials.