Of all sectors worldwide, “industry” has performed relatively well during the coronavirus pandemic. Many companies – including Rotero – have made every effort to support customers and deliver products within the constraints of the coronavirus regulations. However, with the recent lifting of these regulations, the industry is not yet free of concerns. On the contrary. In our sector in particular, the consequences will continue to reverberate for some time to come.
The impact of COVID-19 on the world was – and still is – significant. Industry has shown remarkable resilience during the pandemic by making full use of all remote working options and complying strictly with COVID-19 regulations. If there was one place where people paid attention to keeping a metre and a half apart, washing their hands and wearing face masks, it was in Dutch and Belgian businesses. Working from home and coming up with creative solutions together is also within our reach.
Nevertheless, we too cannot escape the long-term consequences of COVID-19:
- Raw materials are becoming scarce and therefore expensive. As a result, delivery times for various products are increasing to several months or even a year. This applies to metals, chips and cardboard alike.
These raw materials and components are also used in our products, which means that their manufacturers sometimes have to wait a long time before they can deliver an order.
- Shipping containers for transporting raw materials, products and semi-finished goods have become many times more expensive in a short period of time. This is driving up prices and delivery times, and ships are sometimes even being laid up. A solution to this problem is not readily available.
We are doing our utmost!
We at Rotero are doing our utmost. We are trying to keep our stocks at a level that allows us to continue to deliver quickly. Agreements with our suppliers are also being strictly adhered to and, of course, we continue to work with our customers on the logistics side to ensure that parts can be ordered on time as much as possible.
However, even we cannot avoid occasionally having to indicate that desired delivery times are not feasible. This is expected to be the case for 2022. We ask for your understanding in this matter.
Consultation
Let us as an industry continue to work together. We can prevent delivery problems as much as possible by, for example, placing a new call-off order for critical products for 2023 now. In any case, consult at the earliest possible stage. Because there may be alternatives that can be delivered sooner. Talk to our specialists!
