Over the last six months, we have seen an emergence of issues challenging our customers. Difficulty securing labor, supply chain shortages, and the rapidly rising costs of labor and supplies are first to come to mind. From our continuous conversations with the manufacturing and shipping communities, we believe that current supply chain challenges will persist through much of 2022. Not welcome news, but it is better to understand the future so we can make our best plans to be successful in the coming year. Here are some concrete steps I suggest given the challenges we face.
- Order earlier for projects and schedule planned replacements.Items are taking much longer than normal to be manufactured.This has been going on since the Spring, but most of our customers buy equipment infrequently, so they are not aware of how dramatically extended lead times are in various categories of goods.Due to an industry wide shortage of foam, walk-ins now require approximately a six month lead time.Common items like brand name fryer systems have five month lead times.Build appropriate time into your plans for new projects, and plan for the scheduled replacement of old equipment to avoid costly and stressful emergencies.
- Be open to alternative brands.In the past, we could occasionally call in favors to our strongest vendor partners to help expedite orders.There is much less flexibility in the supply chain now.Component shortages are preventing manufacturers from shuffling orders in queue. If time is of the essence, flexibility on brand selection alongside a trusted specifier is key.
- Spend less time in design.This is hard for me to say.I am a strong believer in more time spent planning to avoid down-stream issues and mistakes.At Singer, we want every detail of your project to be perfect, and we work tirelessly to get your kitchen designs just right.However, in today’s environment, unless the project has a long lead time, it doesn’t make sense to get every detail perfect up front. It’s likely that many selections will have lead times that exceed the requirements of the project schedule.Those pieces will end up getting substituted for available items, and the extra time spent on design will be wasted.It is more important to give the project extra time for ordering and securing product, and less time getting every feature and design detail just so.
- Look for ways to automate and save labor.I do not believe that labor availability for hospitality will open up much in 2022, and wages are not going to go down either.There are many ways to use foodservice equipment to automate and eliminate labor.Let us work alongside your team to help find ways to eliminate labor in food prep, warewashing, and cooking equipment. Investing in new technologies today will pay dividends for years to come.
At Singer, everything we do is to create long-term relationships with our customers. Our knowledgeable and experienced team is committed to bringing you solutions that solve problems and create success for your business. Thank you for your continued trust in our company. I am deeply appreciative.
Singer Equipment Company is proud to partner with you, planning, solving, and growing together. Contact us at [email protected] to get started.
