Distributor Pandemic Alert – Freight Costs Impact Profitability
I needn’t say too much about the current situation tied to Pandemic leftovers. If you are one of the three people in Distributorland who hasn’t heard or talked about these three driving issues, let me tell you, they are real. 1. The difficulties in attracting quality/qualified employees. 2. Supply chain issues and shortages of the parts your customers need. 3. Ongoing price increases and inflation. I want to provide a demonstration of how the combination of supply chain issues and inflationary pressures needs some management attention. A glance at supply chain “stuff” It’s not impossible to get products from our suppliers, it’s just impossible to receive them on time. Despite all the media hype tied to supply chain issues, our customers are not quietly sympathetic. They still have factories to run and machinery to ship. Most customers still judge our service on getting products to them when they need them. They bark, bother, and badger distributor sales teams. Reports from