Was it the Suez tanker, or is it Brexit?

We all heard about the mega-tanker – Ever Given, a 20,000 TEU container ship that blocked the Suez canal (Egypt) for 6 days back in March, this along with Brexit was blamed for shortages of many items which were suddenly becoming difficult to procure.  Amongst my business friends, this ranged from boilers to flooring and importantly people were talking about microchips.

What are  Microchips?

Microchips are also known as semiconductors and integrated circuits.  These are components, essential ones at that, of every electronic item you can think of, from a remote control, to a fancy TV, but also computers themselves.

Supply chain & stockpiling

Actually the supply chain for essential electronics was placed under a global strain when the pandemic hit the economy.  Laptops and game consoles were in high demand as people needed to both work and play differently.

With world economies changing their buying patterns at short notice, the car manufacturers slowed their orders allowing tech chip manufacturers to funnel their products to the electronics arena.  As the pandemic continued to bring home electronic & appliance sales higher, the car industry began to feel a bounce back, however the chip manufacturers could not fulfil the change in direction.  These factors along with stockpiling in some industries has meant that the global economy is suffering a massive impact, which many predict will last long into 2022, even as far as the second quarter.

How will this affect me & my business?

What impact on me I hear you cry!  Well certainly there are shortages of many items needing these little microchips, I’ve already mentioned boilers, cars and remote controls – but the area most affecting us and our clients are of course notebooks.  The high demand from those working flexibly has forced the price of economical equipment higher and brought a shortage of hardware leaving us with long wait times for stock and regularly prices inflated above normal.

How can I prepare for delays?

Now when considering your IT requirement moving forward, we would strongly advise giving suppliers more notice & planning your workforce environment carefully.  Chat to Jacqui about the need for notebooks or workstations in your business and the best options available.

Evergreen Update 3rd August 2021

Today I noticed a news article to say that the Evergreen has finally docked in Felixstowe more than four months after the blockage in the Suez Canal – amazing to think that we had almost forgotten about the gargantuan ship & here it – its original destination was Rotterdam, not even the UK.  The delay was not only due to the accident, but due to a financial dispute over compensation rather than the length of the journey.  The situation is said to have stopped £42 billion worth of world trade.