Supply Chain Issues: Why You Should Order Your Patio Umbrella Now!

Supply Chain Issues, why you should order early this year.

All you have to do is turn on the news, or open one of your social media accounts, and you will see countless news articles and features on “The Supply Chain” crises affecting international commerce.

As a leader in the shade industry in the United States, Umbrellas Specialist, like all companies engaged in e-commerce, has been affected by the worldwide supply chain issues manufacturers, like the leading brands we offer consumers, have been experiencing.

We have reached out to our brands – Bambrella, Galtech and Fiberbilt and asked them to help us explain to our customers and those searching for shade products – umbrellas, cabanas, pavilions and accessories – the issues they are experiencing to better help YOU – the consumer understand the issues and help guide you in purchasing one of the high quality shade products they offer.

The Pandemic is not helping

The global pandemic beginning in 2020 caused disruptions that most consumer goods brands weren’t accustomed to seeing. This shift has continued in 2022 with suppliers and manufacturers from all over the world being put to the test: encountering massive stock shortages, fulfillment delays, and lengthy backorders on common inventory items.

5 Supply Chain Challenges In 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt the supply chain ecosystem with new and unforeseen barriers to both productivity and profitability. The following are some of 2021’s biggest supply chain challenges faced by product-based businesses such as umbrella manufacturers from all over the world. .

SHORTAGE OF MATERIALS
Companies that produce goods depend on supplies and materials they purchase from other companies to manufacture products, such as umbrellas and cabanas. With limited availability for parts and component materials, many companies are struggling to meet their demands resulting in longer lead times.
FREIGHT PRICES HAVE RISEN
An unexpected need for increased container shipping occurred over the course of the global pandemic. The huge spike in eCommerce transactions as the result of a global lockdown, a consequence was huge demand for consumer goods and raw materials – which are moved, to a large degree, in shipping containers. In turn the demand, which was much greater than anticipated, was something the shipping industry was not prepared for, resulting in a shortage of shipping containers. The scarcity in shipping containers caused an increase in pricing. In 2020, shipping rates for freight from China to the US have increased by 240%.
DEMAND PREDICTION & FORECASTING HAVE BECOME MUCH MORE DIFFICULT

Supply Chain Management is based on a company being able to predict or forecast demand. This process, difficult enough under normal circumstances, has been fraught with an additional level of complexity to companies’ ability to manage their supply chains. The damage done by the Covid-19 Pandemic basically decimated many suppliers and retailers’ ability to know how much inventory to produce or stock.
CONGESTION AT UNITED STATES PORTS OF ENTRY
One of the biggest challenges for the global supply chain has been congestion at the ports. This problem has sent port operators, cargo carriers and shippers scrambling for a workable solution to this issue. Whenever a ship arrives at an accelerated pace, the result is congestion.
When a port can’t unload or load because they are already at capacity. Labor shortages due to the pandemic, together with social distancing issues, have thrown things at the ports in the United States of course, creating major hold-ups at a large number of larger global ports.
The final result of this backlog and congestion has been that many manufacturing companies have not been able to get their products out on time. This has affected many carriers ability to adhere to their delivery commitments.
CONSUMER ATTITUDES HAVE SHIFTED

During the pandemic, economists who study consumer behavior and attitudes have drastically changed. Expectations for a positive customer experience have increased while the threshold for delivery times has decreased.

So that’s the bad news – what’s the good news?

The good news is that here at Umbrellas Specialist – we remain in constant communication with our manufacturers. While projections are just that – we feel confident that the lead times we are seeing are accurate and can confidently predict that if you order your umbrella today, with few exceptions – you will have it in 3 to 4 weeks.

So why order now?

Many reasons but the BIGGEST reason is PRICES WILL GO UP. That is a foregone conclusion – the only question is when?

Certainly in 2022 there will be an increase in prices to the consumer as manufacturers cope with the increases they are seeing from their suppliers. In some cases prices could go up before the end of the year.

At Umbrella Specialist – we don’t control the pricing – the manufacturers do. If they raise their prices, this gets passed on to you – the consumer.

So even if you are looking at the end of summer where you live, or are already gearing up for winter – it is also a certainty that soon enough the snows that may not have even fallen yet will melt and it will be spring before you know it – and the umbrella you wanted in 2021 but didn’t order will certainly cost more. And while this is a certainty – additional supply chain issues can always arise – but you will have your umbrella, cantilever, or pavilion and you will have paid less because you wisely ordered NOW!