Due to the covid 19 pandemic, the supply chain was badly disturbed. There were huge supply chain disruptions across the industries, from toilet paper, cleaning supplies to food. Most of the places have gained their normalcy back; however, the nation is still facing a lot of shortages. The construction sector is also being affected by these shortages. There have been a huge scarcity of driving materials, timber lumber, etc. these shortages are due to the growing demands for new construction and bigger home amid the pandemic, along with the covid-19 pandemic restrictions and the government shutdowns that the orders stifled.

• The current situation of construction driving materials shortage:

The construction industry has been severely affected all year round by the diminishing supplies of important building materials like roof tiles, cement, and steel. Due to this, the materials’ prices also started to rise Between September 2020 and September 2021. It was estimated that there was a 1% month-on-month increase from September to October after that.

Mr John Newcomb and Mr Peter Caplehorn, the co-chairs of the CLC’s Product Availability working group, believe that the material shortage is primarily induced by the rising inflation and energy cost and the uncertainty over a potential increase in covid cases. Also, the full border control implemented at the end of the year was among the many factors that played a part in creating the construction driving material shortage in the UK.

Although there is not that much demand for the product, the supply is still struggling to meet the customers’ desires, as reported in the latest construction products availability statement.

• Shortages of the products that can be seen:

The supply of timber is struggling very much; substantial shortages are being faced since the last year in timber stocks. There also is a significant increase in its price by 64 per cent. Another factor that slowed down the production of timber in the mills of Scandinavia was the significant delay at the ports. 

There is also an extreme shortage of plaster, due to which it has been subjected to extended lead times. Although the supplies have improved still there are some ongoing challenges with the supply, according to CLC.

There is also a shortage of paints and sealants. Their supply is still affected due to the global shortage and the shipping cost of the containers.

Another thing facing extreme shortages in the construction sector is roof tiles. According to the National Federation of roofing contractors (NFRC), the lead time of the concrete and clay roof tiles continues to be extended, averaging around 20-24 weeks. Sometimes it can even rise to 36 weeks.

Steel is also scarce in the market. British’s steel halted to take orders on structural steel due to extremely high demand. After that, they raised the transaction prices of each tonne on all-new orders. Right now, there is a shortage of steel lintels. Apart from that, the increasing cost of gas and electricity and related carbon cost is also leading to a significant increase in the transaction prices, including glass, bricks, ceramic products, etc. The supply of cement also decreased in the last year. Cement production dropped from 11.4 % in 2021.

General levels of uncertainty over the upcoming months are a sign of concern. The region has recognized a loss of surety over inflation and product prices for substances together with metal, cement, bricks and glass, which might be sent northwards by growing energy prices.

The ramifications of the scarcity have rippled via the enterprise. The increasing cost of lumber has impeded contractors’ potential to construct contracts for the originally agreed-upon price and hindered the ability of the customers to pay the increased costs. The increased fees are handed to providers to the builders and contractors to consumers.

• Conclusion:

The problems airing from the shortages do not stay limited to the consumer contracts. It also affects the contractor and builders. Many firms like western industrial business interiors struggle to find materials in the first place, let alone find affordable material. This hardship leaves the suppliers susceptible to allegations, specifically by the builder’s developers and other contractors. They are blamed for using the pandemic’s shortages to raise the price of the goods unfairly. This is a huge problem lingering as the current shortages of the products are causing delays and a rise in prices. It is suspected that supply will eventually catch up with the demand, but firms need to utilize termination, price escalation, and other incentives to mitigate the impact.

If you have a team of security guards on hand to protect your home or business, you have a duty of care to protect your employees from a variety of hazards, including violence.

Security guards in public-facing roles are particularly vulnerable to physical attacks, and so it is vital to consider giving them protective body armour, such as stab-proof vests, to keep them safe from harm. But what is body armour, and why do your security personnel need it? Let’s take a look.

What is body armour?

Body armour is a form of protective clothing worn to absorb or deflect the impact of a physical attack.

Body armour comes in a variety of materials and strengths to suit the role of the wearer and can be strong enough to protect them against a wide range of weapons, including sharp objects (such as knives), blunt instruments and bullets.

What kind of body armour do I need?

The Home Office’s Centre for Applied Science and Technology has developed national standards for body armour. These standards were initially created as guidance for UK police forces, but they are also appropriate for other public roles and private companies.

The Home Office has created a list of certified products that meet their standards for three different types of threats, including:

– Stabs using sharp objects that could cause deep internal injuries in vital organs
– Slashes using knives that create shallow, long injuries that could damage major blood vessels
– Ballistic attacks using a shotgun, rifle or pistol, which cause complex injuries

As a business owner or manager, you are responsible for liaising with your local police force to decide which level of protection is appropriate for your staff.

What is body armour made of?

Body armour is usually made of blast and ballistic-resistant fabrics covered by an outer fabric casing. The higher the level of protection the body armour provides, the heavier and stiffer it will become, which can decrease the mobility of the wearer. Additional armour plates can also be added to increase the level of protection provided.

How to choose the right body armour

In addition to the level of protection required for your staff, there are several other factors you’ll need to consider when choosing the right body armour for your security personnel, including:

Fit

Issuing body armour that is the right size for your staff is essential, as it will determine how much protection it offers and how comfortable it is to wear. If the armour you choose is too short, it may not protect the wearer’s vital organs, but if it is too long, it may make it uncomfortable to wear and difficult to move in.

Weight

While the weight of the armour itself is important to consider, the way its weight is distributed is also essential to think about. Ensuring the weight of the armour is evenly distributed on the wearer’s waist and shoulders, for example, will make it less of a burden to wear for long periods.

Bulk

The bulk of the body armour can be more prohibitive than its weight, so it’s essential to make sure the armour you choose is streamlined. Bulky body armour can be a hindrance to normal movement and can restrict easy access to vehicles and buildings.

Finding the right body armour for your security personnel is essential to keep them protected at work, so make sure that you shop from a reputable provider.

The COVID-19 crisis has impacted supply chain systems around the world. The consequences haven’t abated yet, and many companies still have to limit their inventories, reports the New York Times. In this connection, major players in the sector had to rethink core business processes and make vital management decisions. Let’s see how the pandemic affected supply chains in key industries, what problems it entailed, and how companies coped with the difficulties.

A recent study by Bain & Company reflected ineffectiveness of the basic principles of supply chain management. These principles have been applied over the past several decades, and are based on minimal costs and inventories. The authors believe that building flexible and adaptive supply chains is a prerequisite for the successful functioning in the current realities.

The economic crisis during the pandemic proved this thesis in practice. The disease resulted in a dramatic worldwide reduction in actual supplies – a vital element for most businesses. Free and open movement of goods and services is a great principle, but a risky one. The more the supply chain depends on people, the greater the risks, and the crisis development timeline has consistently exposed old problems and created new ones.

First, COVID-19 hit factories in China, the world’s largest producer. Empty cargo containers began to accumulate in Chinese ports, while other parts of the world, on the contrary, saw a shortage. Whoever could, temporarily refused to work with the country, but this couldn’t be a permanent solution: the crisis revealed the need for a new logistic approach.

Before the pandemic, logistics was perceived as a pricey enterprise. Companies sought to optimize costs by delegating functions of storage, transportation, delivery and warehouse management to counterparties offering the lowest rates on the service market. However, at the beginning of the crisis, it turned out that the approach did not allow coping with new challenges: additional links in the chain increased the response time and led to delays in deliveries, empty warehouses or, in some situations, oversupply of goods.

In this situation, the winners were those investing in long-term relationships with counterparties based on the basic principle of responsible cooperation. To cite an example, the German cables, wires and cable accessories manufacturer Helukabel optimized its supply chain by introducing customer-specific control: “We have set up an integrated supply chain that reflects the motto “think global, act local”, says Michael Hamsa, Helukabel’s Head of Supply Chain Management. Based on its own IT and communication infrastructure, the company has built an operational communication network with customers and was able to maintain close proximity even at a time when ‘distance’ became one of the most popular words. This approach has shown its viability in practice: Helukabel and its customers have not experienced any production or delivery delays related to the COVID-19 situation.

In addition to closer interactions with customers, companies have also had to learn how to work with reduced headcounts in the face of heightened safety restrictions. This has significantly impacted the core supply chain processes and has even pushed some companies to the brink of extinction.

So, India’s e-commerce delivery companies lost thousands of employees at the beginning of the pandemic; 80% of employees altogether left BigBasket food delivery company. Employees in these types of companies are a key element of the supply chain, and any disruption in this area may become a close call. Realizing the danger, BigBasket mobilized its forces, introduced bonuses, insurance and increased security measures for employees, as well as optimized the operational process of deliveries: “We started telling customers we will not deliver on the same day, we will deliver everything on a milk route in two or three days. We started doing only bulk orders and prioritized delivering just essential items,” explains Vipul Parekh, Co-Founder and CMO of Big Basket. This approach paid off: a year later, the company sees a rise in business even while the disease keeps raging in the country.

Dependence on importers and transportation blocks were the next tripping stone. Border closures, export bans and increased customs clearance periods dealt a blow on those whose supply chains were dependent on their partners’ products.

Some companies have avoided these problems by working with local suppliers and using their own streamlined and fully controlled process of making and selling goods. Thus, a wide functionality that allows not only collecting and storing data on the production chain, but also optimizing logistics and automating document flow at own facilities, allowed French banknote printer Oberthur Fiduciaire successfully thread its way through the crisis waves. Both of the company’s main European facilities strictly observe unified procedures and requirements and are permutable; at that, VHP Security Paper supplier, owned by Oberthur, ensures there is no or very limited problem with stock. Due to its specific activities, the company must ensure full control over its production chain, and this careful approach resulted in solid performance, says Oberthur’s CEO Thomas Savare: “The systems we put in place in the ‘good times’ have stood up to the pressure and I am pleased to say that we have a record order book – a reflection, I think, of the confidence customers have in our processes and procedures.”

In any changing environment, there are winners and losers. Traditional supply chains are designed for lean efficiency, low risk, and high predictability. The new reality, however, dictates the need for agility, speed and study of new opportunities, and in the current situation, those who have shown maximum adaptability during the onset of the crisis and prepared the ground in advance in case of problems, have won.