翻译
小企业供应链新闻
We all remember the early days of the pandemic when toilet paper was a scarce commodity, but now the world is out of everything from computer chips to ketchup. 更糟糕的是, an unprecedented labor shortage has left business owners bracing for a holiday season in which demand is likely to overwhelm resources.
不幸的是, it’s clear that the supply chain disruption plaguing the American economy is not a short-term crisis. 而你无法修复断裂的供应链, you’ll need to steer your business through the crisis and be able to explain delays to your customers when necessary. To do so, it’s im港口ant to understand what’s behind the supply chain disruptions.
什么是供应链?
The supply chain is the journey products take from where they’re mined, 种植, or otherwise made all the way to their eventual destinations in the hands of consumers.
供应链由所谓的“节点”和“环节”组成.“节点是一种材料或产品在生产过程中的停留点, 比如在工厂里, 港口, 仓库, 或者零售店. 一个链接, 另一方面, is the time a material or product spends in transit between nodes—usually on a cargo ship, 火车, 货运飞机, 或半卡车.
A whole industry exists around managing supply chains and securing an efficient route for products along various links and nodes. It’s a complex system, but you don’t need to get into the weeds. 以下是困扰供应链的大问题.
影响供应链中断的两个因素
Coronavirus lockdowns spurred major changes in consumer behavior. Money normally spent on experiences was redirected at products. 工人们需要家用办公设备. At the same time, factories overseas were hit hard by outbreaks and couldn’t keep up with the demand.
所以大流行开始了. 但随着世界部分地区疫情的消退, 持续的影响继续波及整个供应链. 这就是我们今天所处的位置.
1. 美国的港口被堵塞了
根据 经济合作及发展组织， 大约90%的贸易货物通过海运. Right now, unprecedented “traffic jams” are clogging up America’s 港口s.
根据 美国国家公共电台, 52 cargo ships were waiting off the coast of Los Angeles one day in late October. 在萨凡纳港外， 《皇冠现金官网》 re港口ed that cargo ships were anchored up to 17 miles off the coast, waiting at times more than 9 days for their turn to dock and unload their 集装箱.
此外, 《皇冠现金官网》 注意到近80,000 unloaded 集装箱 (50% more than usual) have been left at the 港口 for up to a month, 等待搭车. You might have heard by now about the country’s shortage of 卡车司机. 这些容器就像乐高玩具, 你看到的堆积在海上的长方形棱镜, 在州际公路上跟在一辆半挂车后面飞驰而过, 或者在铁路交叉口叮当作响. They can hold almost anything and can be stacked and transferred between vehicles seamlessly.
这个问题? 海运集装箱不在它们该在的地方. Some parts of the world have so many empty 集装箱 that they’ve run out of places to put them. 在南加州，居民们有 re港口ed seeing empty 集装箱 parked on residential streets. In China, 另一方面, 集装箱 are hard to find, causing more delays. Each container stranded on a cargo ship or in a 港口 is a container that can’t be unloaded and then reloaded again.
2. 劳动力短缺是造成瓶颈的原因之一
根据 U.S. D劳工部, 4.2021年8月，300万美国人辞职. 如果你是一个小企业主, you’ve likely felt the s火车 yourself—workers are not easy to come by or retain.
People speak of the supply chain as though it’s made up entirely of 港口s, 集装箱, 和仓库, 但它依靠的是工人的力量. 码头工人, 卡车司机, 仓库的工人, 飞行员, and others essential to the supply chain are stuck at home caring for children or quarantined after exposure to Covid-19. 甚至更多的人正在离职.
Many of these positions are considered skilled labor, meaning they require specialized 火车ing. Though there’s a massive push underway to recruit 卡车司机, 人们不可能一夜之间学会开18轮大卡车. 操作起重机也是如此, especially when 集装箱 are stacked high and accessing the right one means playing a high-stakes game of Jenga. Major 港口s like the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach will soon be operating 24/7, but that won’t help unclog the traffic jam if the truck driver shortage persists.
供应链中断对小企业的影响
在最近的 调查 由联合国进行的.S. 人口普查局, 38% of small businesses re港口ed domestic supplier delays in the most recent phase of the study. A breakdown of the percentage of sectors that re港口ed domestic delays in the 调查 is as follows:
- 制造业:64%
- 零售:59.8%
- 建设:58.5%
- 住宿和食品服务:51.4%
因此，大多数行业都感受到了危机. 外国供应商延迟交货的比率较低(15%).(占小企业的9%)，但仍在稳步增长. 你可以找到一个视觉指南 小企业脉搏调查结果在此.
像家得宝这样的上市零售巨头, 目标, 和沃尔玛正在利用他们巨大的消费能力 租用他们的船只 and trans港口 products around bottlenecks in time for the holiday season. There are very few companies with the resources to compete with such an expensive step. Most small businesses—already s火车ed by the effects of lockdowns and the labor shortage—will need to wait in line.
最终的想法
没有解决供应链问题的灵丹妙药. 唯一能起作用的是时间. While small businesses wait for the supply chain to unsnarl and catch up, 游戏的名称将是生存. This will be especially true during the holiday season when big box stores are likely to have much more inventory than small businesses.
这意味着普通民众需要更有创造力, sourcing products and goods locally as often as possible and finding ways to repurpose existing inventory. Customers who care about shopping locally will make every effort to sup港口 mom and pop, but it will be vital for small business owners to communicate clearly with their customer base, 解释延误并提供频繁的更新.
