Special Feature


Taking stock of manufacturing and supply issues across the globe


Making a decision on stock levels is a precarious choice: too much and you risk not being able to sell all the items, too little and you risk disappointing the customer. Ordering stock when you need it rather than keeping a reserve of items in storage (otherwise known as the ‘just-in-time’ approach) is proving particularly problematic right now, with everything from Chinese coal rationing to the pandemic playing havoc with manufacturing and supply. Here, Paul Dawson, commercial director at Niglon, calls on wholesalers to ensure they’re prepared for what lies ahead.


Chinese coal cuts


No smoke billowing from chimneys, empty workstations, and workers sat around waiting for updates. It’s a sight many of us have become accustomed to in recent months as the Chinese energy crisis plays out across the world’s media. The dual triggers have been ongoing restrictions around producing electricity using coal (limiting what can be produced in China), and rising global coal costs (limiting their ability to import more to plug the gap). Rather than pass increased costs on to consumers, electricity suppliers are choosing to ration both domestic and industrial users – meaning factories in two thirds of China have been reported to have seen production cease for hours, or sometimes days, at


30 | electrical wholesaler March 2022 a time on a regular basis.


While it’s devastating for those in China seeing their lives and livelihoods impacted, the entire globe is feeling the knock-on effects of product shortages due to the semi-closure of so many factories.


Further concerns have been raised over the lack of prior warning about power outages – there have been claims that some manufacturers are only being notified overnight that their factories won’t be able to open the following day. It means manufacturers are already at a disadvantage leading up to Chinese New Year (February 1st to 11th) when many workers will travel away from industrial areas to visit family, with a proportion choosing not to return each


year. The festivities traditionally cause delays for those purchasing items from China, and the impact looks likely to be felt more acutely in 2022 given the existing disruption.


Trouble at sea


Caused largely by pandemic-related lockdowns, with other exacerbating factors like extreme weather affecting parts of the world, to say the global supply chain has been disrupted in the last two years is a gross understatement. More than three quarters of ports are experiencing abnormally long turnaround times, with no end in sight as experts predict we’ll see the situation continue until at least next summer. Of course, the impact has been a huge rise in


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