Dear Valued Customer,
The material world continues to face significant challenges, including international delays, worker shortages, mismanaged shipping containers, and extreme weather in the south that has disrupted resin production. As a result, we are experiencing unprecedented lead times and price increases.
We cannot stress enough the seriousness of the current situation. Stocked materials now have lead times of 9 to 12 weeks or more. Major delays and Force Majeure are in place for Dupont (Zytel) materials, Sabic materials, ABS, and all polyethylene and polypropylene. For example, the cost of polypropylene has risen from $0.66 per pound last August to $1.37 today, with another likely increase of $0.30 in March.
Due to the surge in online shopping over the holidays, we are also experiencing shortages and price increases in packaging supplies. We will do our best to deliver your parts on time and meet your packaging requirements. However, we ask for your patience as we deal with the same COVID-related staffing issues and price increases that many of you are facing.
To assist with today's resin crisis:
- Send forecasts for the next 6-12 months and place blanket P.O.s through May to minimize piece part price increases.
- Be proactive in looking for material or brand alternatives (generics).
- Lock in resin pricing with resin suppliers (e.g., Avient, Nexeo, DuPont, Sabic, AMCO, Polysource) on main resins to control pricing as an OEM. This can then be used by all of your vendors. We can assist with contact names if needed.
Thank you,
Danny Mishek
President, VistaTek