Canadian Finishing & Coatings Manufacturing Magazine - May/June 2023 - 4

FROM THE EDITOR
Shifting Supply Chain Tactics
All industries have been experiencing
workforce woes. And while we have
covered, and will continue to cover, ways
to attract new talent and capture tribal
knowledge, there's another elephant in
the room-supply chain issues.
As you will find within this issue,
navigating today's supply chain is a
prevalent challenge for industry in
general. Many have switched from
a 'just in time' strategy to a 'just in
case' model, reshoring or looking for
suppliers closer to home, some are
bringing more processes in-house, and
some are working on qualifying new raw
materials to safeguard future supply and
demand.
During the first year of the pandemic,
when the global supply chain came to a
stressful grinding halt, I was working
on a commodities article and spoke to
numerous procurement professionals.
When people started going stir crazy
in the lockdowns there was a surge in
demand for construction and renovation
materials and e-commerce jumped
significantly from six per cent to about
60 per cent. Manufacturing operations-
dealing with an already slim pool of
workforce-turned to automation, a
transformation that was happening
pre-pandemic but was accelerated due
to COVID related restraints. And when
there's a rise in costs and services, there's
a rise in labour costs, manufacturing
and transportation. Jérôme Thirion, a
partner, national supply chain lead, and
management consulting for KPMG in
Canada, called this the 'perfect storm'
for the global supply chain.
For procurement professionals
trying to secure materials and keep
production flowing, Rod Sherkin, a
supply chain consultant and president
of ProPurchaser.com said that when you
see prices going up and down, they're not
actually moving, but at a balancing point
between supply and demand. It's not the
procurement teams' job to outsmart the
market, but rather understand what is
happening to the suppliers' cost since
the last time you negotiated with them.
Sherkin said, " If there is a cost
increase, make sure it's supportable and
NOELLE STAPINSKY
Photo by Samuel Tessier
reasonable. Don't stop watching the cost
of raw materials because your supplier is
and will call you as soon as they can raise
the price. But if the cost of a raw material
goes down, it's your turn to get on the
phone. Perhaps you're buying finished
parts
and
not
tracking commodity
prices. You should be because it has such
a huge bearing on how much you will pay
and how you're going to negotiate. "
Now that the world has somewhat
returned to a new normal, it's promising
to see the finishing and coatings industry
proactively shift to new supply chain
strategies. Some have even decided to
not consider it a challenge, but instead
an opportunity to become more selfsufficient
and stronger for it.
4
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Canadian Finishing & Coatings Manufacturing Magazine - May/June 2023

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