Think back to before COVID-19 when you were running low on some materials. You could pick up the phone and contact two or three registered suppliers. One of them would have the products, and you could get them six to eight weeks later, on average.
 
“Today, that same process takes three months – minimum,” explains Keith Holdsworth, a senior supply chain consultant with Perfection Limited, based in West Oxfordshire, England.
 
This is taking into account that one of those suppliers has the materials on hand. “Then, it’s one month before they can send the materials, and then the reliability of sailing time is all over the place,” he says. “There are still shipments being cancelled, especially to Europe. Or a shipment is going to a different port, and you have to pay a premium to relocate it to where you want it to go.”
 
This is certainly something Jiangsu Institute of Ecomones Co., located in Jintan in southern Jiangsu, China, is feeling. Our biggest impact on operations is “international transportation,” says Kong Weidong, general manager, import and export. “The shipping space is limited, and the shipping costs keep rising.”
 
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