Supply Chain Update - Feature Sample

REPORT TO MEMBERS

By Steve Fetteroll, executive director

2022 was a step forward for the industry. In early June, WAI held Wire Expo 2022 in Dallas. It was a joyous return to a live event, and later that same month, WAI was in Germany for wire Dusseldorf. In October, the U.K. Clockwinder was finally at the Madison headquarters after two years of a virtual winder. New staff was added, and volunteers and staff pivoted, working on Wire Expo and Interwire 2023. Now, the 2023 mix will include two international technical conferences in Mexico and Italy. All in all, it was a good year.

The return to a live WAI event

Numbers are only part of a story. When the WAI Operations Summit & Wire Expo 2022 (Wire Expo) was held in June, the event did not set records attendance-wise, but it was one of the Association’s most memorable trade shows ever. Attendees were thrilled to be in Dallas, Texas, and the memories of the prior two years that saw cancellations of Wire Expo 2020 and Interwire 2021 were finally able to fade.

It was painful to lose both of those events to Covid, but behind the scenes WAI volunteers and staff were busy. Ably led by 2020 WAI President Jan Sørige and 2021 WAI President Thomas Heberling, the focus was on not just creating virtual programming, but targeting themes that would relate to industry challenges and concerns. That mindset continued with 2022 WAI President James York, who took a very active role throughout the year in developing the content.

Even before York welcomed attendees the opening day, there was a positive buzz. More seats had to be added, and the enthusiasm continued during presentations that featured speakers that included Encore Wire Vice President of Sales Kevin Heffernan and Prysmian

Group North America Chief Procurement Officer Brian Schulties.

The opening of the trade show that followed was memorable. It was as if there had never been a two-year gap. Attendees mingled with exhibitors, and engaged conversations ensued. It confirmed once again how and why people talking to people face-to-face matters so much.

Wire Expo: the trade show matters, but it was also a time to renew relationships and foster new ones.

There was also a lot to hear. The theme for the event— which started off with WAI’s iconic Fundamentals of Wire Manufacturing program—was Rising to the Challenge. A series of presentations covered the workforce, the supply chain, production solutions and developments.

Wire Expo saw the traditional awarding of prizes, and this time there were three years’ worth as WAI honored the 2022 Mordica, Donnellan and WAI President’s award winners as well as the recipients of those honors in 2020 and 2021. See below list. Virtual recognition is better than none, but seeing the collective winners who were able to attend was a moment of pride.

Much else could also be said about Wire Expo. The event technically is put on by the WAI, but it would not be possible without industry contribution. Even at Wire Expo, WAI’s smaller annual event, more than a hundred volunteers contributed in some way, many behind the scenes. The company that deserves kudos is Encore Wire, which opened its massive McKinney campus for

WAI Award Winners (2020-22)

Mordica Memorial Award

2020: Gil Baker, Confident Instruments

2021: Oriol Guixa, La Farga

2022: Ananad Bhagwat, Minova USA

Donnellan Memorial Award

2020: Andy Talbot, Mid-South Wire

2021: David Hawker, Cerro Wire LLC

2022: Richard Wagner, Insteel Industries

President’s Award

2020: Richard Baker, Prysmian North America

2021: William Jarae, Charter Steel, retired

2022: Joe Downes, Leggett & Platt, retired

The annual meeting honored award winners from three years.

a tour of its expansive operations. The company had recently completed yet another major expansion, which brings its size to some three million sq ft ... and an interior train system. It made for a Texas-sized experience.

The return to staging international events

WAI’s mission statement is to disseminate technical information, and one way it does that is through holding International Technical Conferences (ITCs), either alone or in cooperation with other industry groups. Covid has upended those efforts the last few years, but in 2023 the Association will have two ITCs, one in Italy and the other in Mexico.

The WAI’s Board of Directors has given the go-ahead on these efforts, which you will be reading about more in future issues. The Italian ITC, to be called Wire & Cable Milan, will be held this fall in Milan. The date was reached at a recent meeting in Italy, where WAI President James York and WAI Executive Director Steve Fetteroll met with ACIMAF President Ferruccio Bellina at the 35th anniversary of the Italian machinery association. There was agreement that the time was right to once again join forces.

The last WAI collaboration with ACIMAF was for Wire & Cable in Verona in 2017, which attracted 250 delegates from 27 countries. Prior ITCs in Italy had been held in Stresa (2003 and 1997).

The second ITC will see WAI return to Mexico, where it has held four prior ITCs, three in Monterrey (2016, 2010 and 2008) and one in Queretaro (2004). Mexico has consistently proved to be a good location, a key to each of those being the support provided by 2009 WAI President Antonio Ayala. The 2023 ITC will be held Nov. 13-15.

Again, more information on both these events will be presented in future issues and at www.wirenet.org.

WAI Board supports further education

At a recent meeting, WAI’s Board of Directors authorized a fund of $50,000 to go to the creation of more educational products for the wire and cable industry.

The goal of the pilot program is to develop videobased training in different disciplines that would be of value to employees that are either new to the industry or have new responsibility. WAI has already created a number of videos—one of which, on cleaning an extruder screw, has had more than 83,000 viewings online—and will now focus on creating a new training

series. This is still in the early stages, and WAI President Kurt Breischaft noted that this will be a long-term project that will serve both the ferrous and nonferrous sectors.

The value of tradition

The saga of Martin Thacker is worth noting. In 2020 and 2021, he served as the virtual Clockwinder, carrying out the annual tradition, from his U.K. home, of winding the Grandfather’s clock presented to the Association by the British wire and cable industry for help provided during World War II.

On Nov. 3, Thacker—who is a Liveryman of the Court of the Worshipful Company of Tinplate Workers Alias Wireworkers (Tinplate Workers) in London—was able to perform the duties, finally, in person. “I felt a fraud since I had fast become king of the virtual clockwinding ceremony. Now, having been here in Madison, I can now wear my tie with pride.”

Of note, only one past Clockwinder has wound the clock more than Thacker, and that is the late Terrence Cahill, Somerset Wire, who performed the tradition in 1979, 1989, 1991 and 1997.

Image from WAI’s extrusion cleaning video.

2022 WAI President Jim York and Clockwinder Martin Thacker.

Staffing updates

Change is part of any business, and with the departure of Robert “Bob” Xeller as sales director at the end of 2021, Shannon Timme took over that post, tasked with organizing the Interwire and Wire Expo trade shows. She joined the company in 2017 as sales manager, and has transitioned into her new post. She recently achieved certification for exhibition management.

One of Timme’s key tasks was to replace her former position, and it took several months before she found Gina Guzowski, whose prior experience included working for four years as a representative for RFS, handling cable, wire and antenna deployments for cell tower build ups. Guzowski had quite an industry introduction: in less than two months from her hire date, she had attended both Expo and wire Düsseldorf.

Of note, John Markowski, who became WAI intern in 2018, joined the Association full time in 2021, with responsibility for membership and social media.

It is fair to say that the WAI embodies a lean approach to staffing. As of the end of 2022, WAI had a total of nine full-time employees, and one part-timer, Cindy Kirmss, who is the circulation manager and supports accounting. It also has had different interns, the current one being Corey Flynn, a senior finance student at The University of New Haven.

The industry story includes WJI

Covid and staffing shortages have not been overly kind to wire and cable manufacturers and suppliers, and it seems as if every company has a story to tell. That includes WAI. One story that you did not read about had to do with delays for WJI because of its suppliers.

The magazine itself was able to function throughout the pandemic, as staff can work remotely, but WAI’s printer in New Hampshire depends on employees at their site. The printers have had to deal with Covid disruptions and severe staff shortages. That situation got a lot uglier early in 2022 when a cyber attack brought its systems down. The ensuing chaos added weeks to the dates the completed issues could be mailed. At the same time, truckers contacted to ship WJI’s preshow issues to Texas for Wire Expo and to Germany for wire Düsseldorf wanted to get those issues even earlier to ensure they arrived on time.

Fortunately, the problems eased some, enough that both preshow issues reached their destinations in time. The memory of that experience has not faded, and WAI staff shares a sincere appreciation for the struggles that so many companies have had to overcome. n

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Supply Chain Update

The good news is that the supply chain has not gotten worse, and to a degree has improved, but the ability for OEMs to get essentials—from controls to gearboxes— largely remains an issue. This feature includes the thoughts of some OEMs, one supplier who is ready to ship, a string of commentaries that may resonate, and more.

The OEM take on the supply chain: where from here?

WJI: Have supply chain woes gotten any better? If not do you have any sense that conditions are improving?

Niehoff is a global manufacturer of wire equipment with worldwide production locations. Whereas the main production sides are in Europe, we are headquartered in Germany. My answers reflect our situation here in Swedesboro, New Jersey, where we manufacture coilers and for some projects electrical cabinets. Our equipment consists of many individual parts that make these machines work. This means a lot of effort is going into follow up, since every missing piece causes a challenge. We are finding that the supply situation has not yet improved significantly compared to the last two years, which is very challenging. The majority of parts and materials continue to have extended lead times. Electrical and electronic components are still a rare commodity. Overall, there are ongoing shortages in all supply areas that we are working to overcome on a daily basis. Andy Zinner, vice president operations & service, Niehoff Endex.

Zinner

tubings have improved, but we are still experiencing long lead-times for many electronic components, rubber products, hydraulic components, paints, and others. Instead, we have learned to adapt to the situation by working closely with our vendors, seeking alternate sources for components, prioritizing ordering of longer lead items when we receive an order, and keeping more parts in our inventory. We have also made a significant investment in manufacturing including a large fiber laser and CNC press brake to make sheet metal and up to 1 in. plate fabrications in-house. These state-of-the-art machines coupled with other automation have reduced our costs and lead-times while it has improved our ability to react swiftly to customer needs for quick changes. Andy Broomfield, vice president, Thermoplastics Engineering Corporation.

We have seen the supply chain improve in some areas over the past year. Things such as certain DOM steel

Supply chain issues have improved to a point but have not recovered significantly. The lead times for technology related components are still months instead of days and suppliers are unable to provide accurate information as to when ordered components will be available. When pressing suppliers about lead-times, one of the most common responses is work force availability. These issues required us to develop new, internal programs that have significantly reduced our exposure to delivery issues. Troy McCabe, director of sales, Rockford Manufacturing Group.

During the last couple of years, we have experienced record high demand for our equipment and technology which has had an impact on how we plan our operations as our supply chain pressure was two-fold: strengthening internal production capabilities in terms of scaling and speed; and securing supply of critical parts. We especially experienced challenges in the procurement of electronic components and motors, where it was sometimes impossible to even obtain a delivery time. Steen Christensen, supply chain manager, Enkotec A/S.

The supply chain continues to provide challenges, but we are seeing incremental improvement. Supply chain issues are especially true for critical electrical components. We anticipate supply chain limitations to continue in 2023, but are doing our best to mitigate potential delays and ensure customers have what they need in a timely manner. Anthony (Tony) Toklo, chief marketing officer, Davis-Standard.

With the increase in Covid-19 worldwide, supply chains were badly affected. We believe that this situation will become better in the future, but unless there is a solution for the chip crisis, the supply chain woes for the wire and

cable industry will not get better, especially for the automation part. It’s more than just the chip crisis. There are difficulties in finding containers, increased costs, etc., that affect this situation. But again, these conditions will improve as there is a decrease in the effects of the Covid pandemic. Süleyman Dundar, product manager, Frekans Makina.

WJI: How do you provide quotes with prices and delivery times?

We managed to keep things under control by intensifying the focus on our sales and operations planning and creating a supply chain task force that focused on critical components. We have benefited from our long-term strategic procurement planning by having multiple suppliers for critical components. The transformation of our equip-

The story of supply chain woes is felt by suppliers to suppliers

Suppliers of controls did not rush to respond to specific questions from WJI about their ability to deliver. However, at its website, Rockwell Automation does provide a bi-weekly update that shows the shipping dates for key products to OEMs as well as its view of the industry challenges. Below is an advisory it provides about the ongoing challenges.

We, along with many industries and customers, continue to face broad-based, ongoing supply constraints stemming from component shortages, material scarcity, logistics challenges, and related issues. These challenges are compounded by the macroeconomic conditions and geopolitical events around the world including war, unexpected shutdowns due to the pandemic, and natural disasters. As a result, there are longer lead times for some of our product lines and more frequent changes to our sales order shipment dates.

Ongoing actions we are taking: extending order visibility to our supply base to ensure we are appropriately planning for extended component lead times; securing longer-term supply agreements with critical partners; re-engineering of existing products to increase component supply resiliency; capacity investments, with redundant manufacturing lines and additional electronic assembly equipment; and qualification of additional suppliers to diversify our supplier base.

Despite these investments, we continue to face volatility in the availability of components, which is beyond our control. We are fully aware of the unfortunate inconvenience and frustration this has created for partners and customers.

Rockwell

Dundar

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