If you’ve been trying to get something but it’s still not there, it may be because you can’t seem to et certain products. It’s also why you probably can’ get some electronics and other items. If you’ve ever dealt with that frustration, guess what? You’re not alone. That’s because there is a disruption in the global supply chain, and this is something that’s been a big issue recently, especially the disruptions within each element of the ecosystem of shipping.
The Excessive Lead Times
If you’ve tried to buy goods in some cases, you may notice it either takes longer or is almost impossible to get them. Or maybe you’re waiting for months before it gets there. It’s something that’s been happening more and more, and a lot of times, people are experiencing this with just about everything, for different kinds of product types too.
The reason why there’s so many delays is because there is a disruption of the global supply chain, which can affect how you get products.
The Global supply Chain
So what is it?
This is essentially networks that go around the world, and they exist to give people the goods and services needed. They’re also integrated with the internet, and in essence, it combines the processes, the information, and the resources throughout the world in order to get this. But this supply chain has been getting disrupted more and more, from the pandemic to the container ship debacle that happened with the Ever Giver. There is also a shortage of labor, where it becomes harder for items to purchase, and if they are available, they’re at exorbitant prices.
The causes
The biggest causes are world events. The COVID pandemic in 2020 definitely hit a lot of sectors of it, with a lot of “non-essential” businesses shutting down, sometimes for months as the supply chain halted, and only essential manufacturing was able to continue the supply chains and lines.
A lot of warehouses that normally gave work to many shut down, and both distribution and manufacturing were dormant for months, collecting dust.
The shutdowns did affect the infrastructure of this, and with a lot of businesses starting up, they need to fulfill all of those backorders as they try to get stabilized once again.
Another problem is the labor shortage, where many businesses are struggling to find people to work. The restaurant industry is one example, but this has affected many distribution and manufacturing plants, so it’s harder to keep the global supply chain going. The final reason is the ever giver container that got stuck in the Suez Canal. It’s a huge container ship wit a bunch of products. Due to bad weather and the winds being high, the container ship was stuck. This also caused traffic of the container ships that were also nearby as they waited for the ever giver to get out of there. This also delayed all kinds of other products that are transported.
What to Do
This is definitely an eye opener, and the labor shortage is still potentially going on, until about October of 2021, and hopefully within the next couple years it’ll get better. But if you’re curious as to why thins are slower, and why it may seem like it’s taking even longer it’s because of this.
With the pandemic still causing rippling effects for many, it’s no wonder why people are curious about this and what it may mean for them. Hopefully, we start to see changes in this kind of soon, and of course, are able to recover from all of this too.