SUPPLY chains are a fickle thing. A rush on toilet paper for instance caused though a perceived threat of a scarcity leaves supermarket shelves bare and the chains scrambling to refill them.
Besides product, there are other items that threaten other parts of the supply chains. There is a current shortage of urea that is used to make anti-pollutants for trucks for instance that could bring some to a halt.
Closer to home however is the currant shortage of reusable pallets. A lot of what we see coming in from overseas are single use pallets whereas a large number of our own industrial sector relies heavily on solid hardwood pallets that they hire and get constantly recycled back into the supply chain.
Manufacturers, distribution outlets, even local fruit growers and packers put great store into hiring pallets from the few companies that provide them in order to keep their costs down in the supply chain.
With COVID disrupting international trade, it has come to a point where a very few in the chain, particularly at the consumer level of domestic supplies are currently hoarding pallets to ensure their preferred suppliers are able to maintain supply to them.
Some of our local manufacturers are currently experiencing difficulties in sourcing hire pallets to maintain their supply demands.
National pallet company CHEP have released a statement on their website about the current shortfall in pallet inventories.
“As you are aware, the unprecedented and unpredictable shifts in supply chains arising from the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in higher inventory levels being held on pallets in warehouses to buffer against multiple COVID-19 impacts on global supply chains and logistics, including international shipping disruption.
Inventory stored on pallets in warehouses across Australia remains at an all-time high, as does the customer demand for pallets. With the decline in pallet returns to our CHEP Service Centres, we are unable to provide full supply to customers at this time.”
Those companies that were the target of hoarders for toilet paper now appear to be the major hoarders of pallets causing unnecessary problems to industry across the region and the country for that matter.
Expect disruptions in your own supply chain if this is not resolved soon and incidentally, when push comes to shove, old copies of this journal can be torn in to suitable sized squares to solve your immediate problems rather than adding to the hoarding problems.
