One of the most widely reported impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on the manufacturing sector is the degree to which it has exposed frailties in engineering supply chains.
As previously reported, this has led to fresh calls to build up domestic supply chains. Indeed, in a poll carried out last month by The Engineer more than 90 per cent of respondents argued that the crisis should trigger a major UK reshoring strategy.
In this poll we wanted to find out whether our readers, or rather the organisations they work for, have been impacted by supply chain issues. Have there been challenges sourcing key components? Are those challenges ongoing, or have these problems settled down?
In an effort to drill down into even more detail on the pandemic’s impact on manufacturers, we’ve teamed up with global digital manufacturing software company, aPriori, and would like to invite readers to take a short survey to share your insights and help us develop a research-based picture of the COVID-19 impact on manufacturing. Respondents to the survey will be entered into a prize draw for a £50 Amazon voucher.
I run a micro service business with a specialist, bespoke, diesel powered machine which has been down for the last month owing to an engine issue requiring replacement parts from its OEM in Italy, as these parts are not available in the UK.
The answer options are not very very well thought out.
There is a lot of difference between parts taking a bit longer than usual to arrive and parts not arriving at all.
In both cases the “continuing to have problems” answer would apply but the consequences would be very different.
Issues have mainly affected R&D since the response to enquiries from potential suppliers has been slow or non-existent.
It should come as no surprise. Demming gave the “just in time” philosophy when first developed the name Fragile production techneques. This was just after World War 2. At various times this has been quoted in the press with some claiming it doesn’t apply with everyting computerised, now we all know the effect!
Waiting over 5 weeks for a new control unit to fix a new Dishlex dishwasher under warranty, that failed in the first month after purchase. “Made in Poland” now is the answer. Is it because Electrolux, the manufacturer, clearly doesn’t hold spare parts in stock in Australia, or they are not expecting a brand new machine to fail a month after delivery? I think it is a lack of planning.
Supply chains have been disrupted globally, even if some firms might not have been directly affected. The need to find alternative sources is opening up new supply chain models and accelerating the use of innovations such as additive manufacture/3D printing. With uncertainty of demand compounding the situation, resilience and flexibility will be core needs for supply chains for a long while yet.
The poll results are very interesting in that the split between serious problems and few problems is virtually 50:50. This probably reflects the UK business sectors well, traditional sectors do not use JIT and thus depend on rapid trans-world supply chains.
It will be interesting to see how many manufacturing companies go to the wall over the next few months as the effects become clearer on markets and business generally: someone once said that “the future has not been written”, similar to the Rubyat of Omar Khyam’s “The moving finger writes….” this is a real example of that, in that none of our economic experts seem to have a clue (as with the banking collapse of 2008).