“May you live in interesting times” … A suitably ironic saying that describes the burst of demand following the Covid pandemic. Prior to the shutdown, the global industrial supply chain was a well-oiled machine. Demand was predictable, and capacities were aligned to meet those demands. The pandemic impacted both the clarity of demand and the ability to produce goods. The uncertainty made companies cautious in Capex spending and created new obstacles in normal production, as workers needed safety measures such as masks and disinfecting to return to work. The role of sales made a major shift to the virtual world as quarantine and global travel restrictions prevented the prior norm of conferences and site visits to collect requirements and understand customer needs.
Now we are finally seeing the pandemic diminish albeit in the same uneven manner as its impact. In the United States the mood is noticeably brighter as society bursts back to public life. This frothy demand coupled with a touch of covid panic has already created shortages. Like toilet paper during the pandemic, we now see shortages of gasoline, ammunition, electronic chips, and chicken wings. Some of these are hoarding panics others are supply chain.
High demand can be a comfort to manufacturers, but it brings along increased lead times, higher prices, and labor shortages. As an automation supplier our customers are understandably eager take delivery of their machines to gain the productivity and quality benefits automation brings. Companies that had not previously considered automation are now seeking options to aid in the plaguing labor gap affecting all industries. At Pioneer Industrial Systems we manage through this uncertainty in our standard way of transparency and communication to set realistic expectations.
If you are considering automation to meet increasing demand amidst this labor shortage, please contact Pioneer. This is a problem we can solve.
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