This past year has posed quite a few challenges for rubber manufacturers and suppliers. Techno Ad has been following the global trends in this field and we’d like to give you an overview of the world’s situation, the reasons for it, and the materials that were particularly affected.
Global Shortage in Silicone
As you know, the ongoing pandemic has hit global supply chains hard, and one of the materials that’s now in short supply is rubber, especially silicone and FKM/Viton™. The silicone shortage is attributed to a number of factors including rising demand coupled with disruption to raw material supply chains and production in the Far East. The pandemic led to greater demand for products manufactured from silicone, especially healthcare elastomers.
The ongoing shortage of silicone is driving higher prices and global demand is expected to continue.
China’s Energy Crisis
For the past few months, China has been facing a serious energy crisis.
The result has been power rationing for factories and businesses. Some provinces have ordered all factories to halt all production for a few days each week, according to Forbes.
Shipping Crisis Worsens
The disruption to global supply chains caused by the pandemic is getting worse and prices are skyrocketing.
“Shipping companies expect the global crunch to continue, massively increasing the cost of moving cargo,” according to a report in CNN Business.
Changing Consumer Habits
The pandemic led to a change in consumption habits and a spike in the demand for consumer goods. Because many factories supplying materials for chip manufacture were closed during the lockdowns, the materials needed to produce the chips weren’t available – which impacted the production of electronics as well as cars.
Here’s what we’re doing to address the situation:
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Inventory We’ve increased inventory levels of both products and raw materials required for production in line with estimated demand, taking into account limitations such as the expiration date of raw materials |
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Purchase Orders
We’ve placed orders from our suppliers for products and raw materials. |
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Delivery
We’ve flown in products when inventory was getting low and we anticipate a shortage. |
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Increased manpower
We’ve recruited more employees for our plant to increase production capacity and we plan to expand our purchasing department to better handle supply chain challenges. |
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New machinery
We’ve purchased new machinery, including compression molding and injection molding machines which should arrive in December. |
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On line Portal
We constantly move forward with tools to improve your ability to use the clients portal as a daily tool in order to ease your daily routine. |
Plan Ahead for 2022
At Techno Ad, we want to make sure that you, our valued clients, are prepared for the challenges of 2022. Understanding that supply of raw materials is taking way longer than usual – in some cases, several months – means that it’s critical to understand what you’re going to need for the coming year, and put plans into place that ensure you don’t run out of a critical part when you need it.
