Kirby Risk Connected Fall 2022

INDUSTRIAL

STAY AHEAD OF SUPPLY CHAIN CHALLENGES

DAVE HEAVILAND | Vice President of Marketing JOSH ABEBE | Director Industrial Sales

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the electrical supply and distribution industry, along with many others, has been strongly affected by continued supply chain disruptions leading to shifts in demand, labor shortages and lengthy shipping times.

The economic impact can be felt at every level of the supply chain with the trickle down resulting in price increases and material shortages. Strong consumer demand has also led to inflation and further increases in the cost of raw materials, supplies and finished goods. These ongoing disruptions have added another layer of complexity to the budgeting and planning process for many businesses as they prepare for 2023 and the challenges that lie ahead. Ivalua, a leading global spend management cloud provider, surveyed 233 senior procurement executives from

leading manufacturing companies in the US and UK about their strategic plans for optimizing sourcing and supply chain processes. Forty-four percent of those surveyed expect the supply chain crisis to ease by the end of 2023. Only 18 percent expect the supply chain crisis to ease by the end of 2022. In an effort to better understand the trends, Kirby Risk meets with key manufacturers on a regular basis to discuss the current and future state of the supply chain. Their hypothesis on the outlook for 2023 relies on customer demand. Because demand has not yet slowed, the strain on raw materials will

22 CONNECTED | FALL 2022