Real People of HP | Raw Materials

For those of us in manufacturing, the ongoing global shortage of raw materials is top of mind these days.

The past 14 months of the Covid-19 Pandemic has brought many challenges. We have lost so much during this ordeal, including our loved ones, friends, and colleagues. Too many businesses were forced to close or scale back with hundreds of thousands of jobs disappearing overnight. We have missed out on valuable and precious time with our families. Along with the memories that were meant to be made at special events and celebrations, it has been the most challenging period time in our lives for many of us.

My personal trip down the pandemic memory lane has inspired me to write about this topic.

After considerably scaling down our long-planned wedding last April, my wife and I started a renovation on our new home late last year instead. Without realizing it at the time, we were at the forefront of this shortage and it affected us firsthand. For example, we still have no appliances or countertops 5 months after they were ordered, and they are not expected to arrive until July. 🙁

I quickly realized that the situation has not only affected homeowners wanting new appliances or those doing weekend DIY projects with increased costs or waiting in long lines at home improvement stores. The real issue is that the global supply chain has entered a dangerous period of great concern to countless industries and business leaders across the globe.

Raw material shortages can be found in all sectors of the supply chain globally. There is low supply in semiconductors, chemicals, container ships, packaging materials – including recycled material and even toilet paper. Major car companies are missing key components for assembly, and even employees are in low supply across the board.

Recently the Wall Street Journal wrote an article about several manufacturing companies temporarily closing down and stopping production due to a lack of materials. The shortages have been brought on by tense international relations, compounded by unpredictable incidents like the Suez Canal blockage. Combined with extremely high demand for all varieties of consumer products as well as further backlogs at US ports, in part due to the rare and extended freezing weather conditions in Texas earlier this year, the situation has reached a perfect storm (no pun intended).

High consumer demand was possibly seen as a glitch to analysts, due to the pandemic and people staying home. Now even with vaccinations increasing and the return to normal apparently in sight, there hasn’t been a decline in demand yet, only in the supply.

Our segment of the industry – large format printing and corrugated packaging – is feeling a major disruption right now, and we will all need to face it together to pivot and adapt again. This is seen most clearly by us in trucking and paper, but also affects our inks, coatings, the corrugated boxes and POP displays that our product become and even labor. Despite these challenges, the pandemic has taught us to be resilient, patient, and persistent. Material shortages is a topic that will be discussed in length at every board meeting and during every conference call for the foreseeable future. I’m hopeful that the industry leaders can continue to find solutions, because without consumer products and everyday goods, the world will be in a dire situation.

At Huston Patterson, we are doing everything we can to create partnerships that will ensure we have the materials needed to continue making the high-quality products delivered in a timely manner. We look forward to working with our clients and other partners in manufacturing to continue to find solutions to these challenges.

If you are interested in learning more about what we do, please feel free to reach out to a Huston Patterson Client Service Manager, including myself – Kyle Milley.

For more tips from the Real People of HP, explore our additional blogs and videos, or contact us directly at Huston Patterson.