FEATURE
have all had a profound and lingering impact on lead times and the supply chain difficulties faced by contractors have affected FM delivery goals. Looking ahead, it’s essential to source products from manufacturers that have implemented effective contingency planning to maintain viable lead times.
How what happens in China affects
the UK Even when the disruption of the pandemic has subsided and the dust has settled following the new EU trading relationship, the consequences of the past 12 months will continue to affect supply chain efficiency, particularly for any goods imported from China.
The Chinese manufacturing landscape is one we know very well at UAP Limited because we have been working with trusted manufacturing partners there for many years. Our products are designed, developed and tested by us in the UK, but manufactured to our exacting quality assurance standards by Chinese factories, so we understand how the sector operates over there.
Just as the Christmas and New Year break punctuate production schedules and influence the timing of maintenance shut downs in the UK, Chinese New Year is a time of celebration that has a major impact on manufacturing capacity in China. Every year, workers who have travelled to the cities to work in factories return home for Chinese New Year, often spending a two-week break with their family, which is bookended on either side by a journey of at least a week.
Each year, a proportion of the Chinese workforce opts to stay in the provinces after the celebrations and the need to replace them can cause further production delays and reduced capacity. That annual cycle has a significant effect on production schedules, for which UK companies importing goods from China need to prepare by ordering in advance and managing their UK stockholding. This year, the fall-out from Chinese New Year is likely to be even greater than usual because lockdown restrictions prevented the 2020 celebrations so Chinese factories are anticipating a longer hiatus and an increased worker drop off this year.
Against this backdrop, changes in the Chinese manufacturing sector are also affecting capacity. For example, the drive to meet international environmental standards has reduced the number of metal plating operators, cutting capacity for plating of hardware products. As a result, UK companies must have established relationships and diligent lead time planning in place if they are to meet demand and offer acceptable delivery terms to customers.
The good news is that none of these challenges are insurmountable. At UAP Limited, we began the pandemic in a position of strength with long-established manufacturing partnerships and a good understanding of how the Chinese market operates. Indeed, our relationships in China meant that we were faster than most in recognising how severely it was likely to affect the UK.
www.tomorrowsfm.com
Because of those insights, we were able to plan and implement a strategy for maintaining stock levels and mitigating the risk of delays. Product development and investment continued, and we looked at where we needed to add more warehousing capacity in order to build resilience for the company and our customers. As a result, we started 2021 with an additional 25,000 sq ft of warehousing space, with a further 35,000 sq ft planned for this year, and our stockholding currently sits at £7m, and will increase to £8m by the end of 2021.
Because we anticipated delays and production capacity issues in China during February and March 2021, we ordered our products months in advance and ensured that consignments for Q1-2 were either received or en route by the end of 2020. Products for Q2-3 are already on order and we will continue to build the likelihood of extended lead times and shipping delays into our production planning.
Capitalising on potential It’s been a tough year, but buildings need to be maintained, repaired and upgraded, whatever the supply chain challenges. Supply chain resilience is central to the FM sector’s ability to deliver routine activities and improvement projects. That’s why UAP Limited has been so focused on planning ahead with high stock levels and advance orders, not only to underpin our own business continuity, but also to ensure FMs and their contractors can rely on consistent service levels and short lead times.
www.uapcorporate.com/ TOMORROW’S FM | 33
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70
