A few years ago, when I entered the fasteners business, the previous owner gave me a book to read, it was called “The Goal”. The book was a textbook on supply chain management, written like a detective novel and difficult to put down. Basically, the owner of a failing business, literally worked through all the supply chain and blockages within his business to turn it around to profit. Some great ideas but I couldn’t foresee a time when supply chain would ever be a problem.
Well, I can honestly say that with Pandemic, the war in Ukraine, Russian sanctions and the ongoing issues with sea transport, we have gone beyond the perfect storm. For the first time in my life in business, it really does appear that supply chain issues are more important than product price.
We are finding that more of our trade is coming from outside the Northwest. When we’ve taken soundings with these new customers, it always comes down to supply – they are unable to obtain a key component in their manufacturing process, from their usual source. This all seems to have started with car manufacture and electronics, we are now seeing it spilling down to certain food items in the supermarkets and of course mundane things like fasteners. Whilst fasteners are often the smallest cost in the chain, consequently the easiest to overlook. One of our new customers had run out of certain fasteners and had stopped production, thankfully we were able to supply.
As a result, here at Leyton Fasteners, we have invested in increasing our stock by 25%, ensuring that existing customers supply chains are not compromised. Whilst this investment is clearly a risk, in an environment where obtaining product is more important than price, we have to “be there” for our customers.
So secure your supply chain now, talk to Nigel at Leyton fasteners on how we can help.
