Manufacturers stack unfinished goods on factory floors and park incomplete vehicles in airport parking lots while waiting for missing parts, made scarce by supply chain problems.
The shortage of mechanical parts, basic materials and electronic components containing semiconductor chips have been disrupting manufacturing in various industries for months.
Companies determined to keep factories open are trying to fill the shortage by producing what they can, while growing customer demand has cleaned store shelves, dealership showrooms and distribution centers. As a result, manufacturers are accumulating large inventories of unsold or incomplete products, such as truck wheels and agricultural tractors. Companies that are used to filling orders quickly now have accumulations of pending orders, waiting for scarce pieces or green lights from customers willing to make deliveries.
Executives expect the shortage and bottlenecks of delivery, aggravated by overwhelmed transportation networks and a lack of workers, to last until the fall. Delays are costing manufacturers sales and are pushing some companies to renew the way they make their products, executives said.
“Clearly there is market strength, but you have to have the ability to meet that,” said David Petratis, CEO of door lock manufacturer Allegion PLC. “We have an extremely narrow supply chain.”