Growth of the interior market and scarcity of raw materials put pressure on deliveries
Dear Customer,
It has become clear to us, as it almost certainly has to you too, that the global interiors market is undergoing unparalleled growth at the moment. There is an exceptionally high level of demand and a great deal of work and these two issues have had an incredible impact on the overall delivery chains. Our suppliers are experiencing a worldwide shortage of raw materials, including steel, wood and packaging materials. The transport sector is also struggling under the enormous pressure. Transport vehicles are not always arriving on time and containers are practically non-existent. This excessive demand is also leading to highly inflated prices and, to add insult to injury, we fear that these issues will continue for some time to come.
In concrete terms, I can assure you that Blum's production units have been running at maximum capacity since autumn 2020, with 21 shifts per week. The demands, however, remain excessively high and we are unable to build up the stocks required to cover peaks.
Furthermore, the entire materials flow is suffering due to the fact that the raw materials required are simply not available. This acute shortage of raw materials makes every delivery unpredictable and is leading to enormous uncertainty. As a result of this uncertain delivery chain, Blum must sometimes suspend production lines at the last minute as the raw materials are unavailable which then unfortunately means we are unable to fulfil our promises.
Our other suppliers of items such as panels, screws, packaging materials are facing the same issues. As a result, we are dealing with uncertain supplies which cannot always be anticipated.
Since the end of last year, we have been doing all we possibly can behind the scenes to limit the consequences for you as much as possible and we are continuing to do so. Until a few weeks ago, we had been able to keep things on track but unfortunately the circumstances have now led to an unavoidable impact on your orders. As I'm sure you understand, this is far from the ideal situation for us. All these issues are occurring outside our sphere of influence and we are therefore powerless. Please know that we empathise with what you and your customers are going through and rest assured that we will do all we can to keep this problematic situation as brief as possible.
As always, you can find the expected delivery dates for each order line on this order confirmation. We will update these according to the current situation. They remain subject to any changes in our suppliers' delivery schedule. Sometimes this may involve hours, sometimes days. We will do our best to continually re-confirm the delivery dates. You can find the latest updates on our website.
This situation is affecting us all; we are all in the same boat on rough seas, in the eye of a perfect storm. We are, however, convinced that we can get through this together with a sense of mutual understanding. We would therefore like to ask you to help us where you can. For example, by only ordering items you need for your weekly demand and not ordering products to hold in stock for extended periods; this will then give us a chance to use the stock we have as efficiently as possible. This will benefit both you and your colleagues.
We are fully aware that you are not receiving the usual level of service from us but would like to reassure you that we are doing our utmost to continue to support you in the usual way.
We would like to sincerely apologise for the inconvenience these issues may cause for you and your customers.
As always, you can contact our team if you have any further questions. But please rest assured that they only have one goal: to support you and to resolve any issues wherever possible. I, for my part, promise that I am doing all I possibly can to weather this storm together with all of you. My thoughts go out to you all.
Kind regards,
Peter Van Hoecke