SPECIAL REPORT
Light at the End of the Tunnel?
Supply chain issues expected to last at least through the end of the year are nothing new to industry seating providers Written by Jim Romeo
S
upply chain woes haunt most industries these days. School transportation is no exception. Schools are feeling the crunch as well with shortages in basic goods such as foam used
in manufacturing school bus seats, to spare parts, and numerous other commodities, big and small. In late December, The Morgan Messenger reported
that Morgan County Schools in Bath, West Virginia, felt the threat of unavailable parts and materials. Due to slowdowns of container shipping, work slow-
downs due to COVID-19, and unprecedented demand in many industries from unusually high spending, many replacement parts, and materials as well as fin- ished goods and materials for new manufacturing pose problems. That is what Morgan County Schools faced: A scarcity of specific supplies. The article cited the district’s transportation director,
Tammy Painter, as stating that her concern was not as much about price increases as it was availability of parts for their buses, and difficulty procuring those parts. Without parts they faced problems maintaining and repairing their buses. In the article Painter was quoted saying, “Waiting on parts has delayed our normal repair time for buses.”
18 School Transportation News • MARCH 2022
Managing the Supply Chain The supply chain for school buses, like other vehicle
manufacturing, is complex. When different tiers of sup- pliers face supply chain crunches, it is felt throughout the extended end-to-end supply chain. Some vendors that are wrestling with the seat foam shortage, however, say they are used to managing availability problems and are steadfast in not settling for inferior quality. “In today’s world, supply chain challenges and price
increases (due to commodities, freight, labor, and over- head) are unfortunately something we’ve had to manage regularly,” said Julie Cooley, the vice president for corpo- rate and marketing communications at IMMI corporation in Carmel, Indiana. “In the safety business, it is even more difficult to navigate these challenges because we cannot nor will not settle for any parts or materials that don’t meet or exceed our high standards. When we need to change suppliers, those parts must go through very strin- gent tests and evaluations for quality assurance.” IMMI is a manufacturer of advanced safety systems
such as seats, seatbelts, and restraints. Cooley shared that customers have expressed understanding for the stress IMMI is under, and that she and her team continue to soldier on and guide them through these times.
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