What can you do to reduce the impact on your existing plant & future automation projects?

As you are probably aware, the global component shortage is adversely affecting many industries, with companies facing extended downtime or project delays due to extremely long automation hardware lead times. The shortages are also putting upward pressure on prices.

In the past many companies have run with very lean stocks of spares keeping only critical components on site. This puts businesses at greater risk in the current climate.

To assist in combating this growing issue, end users, OEMs and integrators should consider the following strategies:

• Forward ordering automation hardware well in advance of upcoming projects

• Increasing onsite automation hardware stocks to cover breakdowns and minor projects.

• Consider refurbished products where new may not be available

• Asking your supplier to hold more stock if guaranteed projects are pending

• Looking at alternative automation solutions (different processors or options within a family of products)

Posted at 26 November 21