Summertime is for relaxing in the sunshine, enjoying longer days and sipping cool drinks from a pool floaty. No one really wants to be worrying about holiday stress right now- but everyone should be. It will be more challenging to enjoy December festivities if you’re secretly panicking inside, frequently stepping away from the party to make calls or check your email, crossing your fingers that your order finally shipped… The supply chain issues that have triggered rising prices, inventory shortfalls, longer production times and other snags will continue to impact the rest of 2021, and unfortunately, probably the following year as well. The time is NOW to start proactively planning for Q4.
Q4 is already the busiest sales season of the year, but pair that with delays and shortages, and it’s a storm waiting to happen. In the last two weeks, our account manager heard from four different people that they could not find any pallets. The pallet shortage is related to the lumber shortage, and there are also shortages on gas, computer chips, and food products like chicken, bacon and cheese. Let us not forget that on top of challenges like these, which are already greatly out of the supplier’s control, companies are also dealing with depleted staffing levels, which means there could be delays in orders getting processed and shipped in a timely fashion.
At ForeFront, one of our core values is proactivity. Our advice is to take advantage of quantity discounts when ordering and keep your stocking levels high. Don’t update your artwork and designs this year to make the most of the product you have. There was just another 6% increase on plastic, and it will not fall this year. Crossing your fingers and hoping the pricing drops is just a trap that will only bite you later. Last year alone proved that sometimes the unthinkable can happen. Let’s hope for the best and plan for the worst- and that means getting proactive and planning for Q4 now. How secure do you feel in your current supply chain system? We’d love to give it a look over and let you know where we can solidify and improve your bottom line. Call us today for a complimentary review. It only hurts if you fail to plan—it never hurts to check twice and get a second opinion!
