Ahead of the return of the Schoolwear Show, Matthew Easter and Mark Stevenson, co-chairs of the Schoolwear Association, are calling on the industry to plan ahead to help mitigate ongoing supply issues that could impact service performance in 2022.

 

“The year we’ve all experienced has been like no other. We all know that Back to School is normally busy and, on occasion, challenging. However, 2021 has been even more so, with the ongoing disruption in global supply chains and domestic and international shipping.

Whilst the UK has, thankfully, managed to get back to some sort of normality, the pandemic is far from resolved in many countries around the world; particularly in highly populated developing nations where a large proportion of global textiles are produced. This is continuing to cause disruption with unpredictable production patterns, which we forecast will likely continue well into 2022.

In addition, the global shipping market continues to have huge capacity shortages, which have driven freight costs to more than five times what they had consistently been before the pandemic. Whilst we would agree that some of the price inflation has been ‘manufactured’ by the shipping lines, it’s difficult to see when this situation will start to improve. Consequently, freight lead times have increased and, as with production, they have become considerably less predictable.

Whether it be toys, garden furniture or household appliances, no industry has been immune to the wider supply chain issues – a topic we discussed back in July with The Guardian. In the schoolwear industry, while we have been somewhat cushioned by the high levels of stocks we hold, our members have still undoubtedly felt some impacts through the year.

Although there was inevitable consternation if products were not available on time, the feedback, in general, has been that schools and parents have understood the challenges we have faced – and we’re grateful for this support, as it’s helped us to manage through our peak period.

However, with normality returning to a certain extent in the UK, the same patience is unlikely to be extended in 2022; even though the problems we have experienced in 2021 are likely to be far from resolved going into next year.

Many of the centres for global textile production are unable to provide the medical support or access that we have in the UK. This will mean their post-pandemic recovery is slower. Furthermore, whilst demand for freight remains at the levels it has been during this year, many experts are predicting that the cost inflation will increase well into 2022, as it is neither quick nor easy for shipping lines to bring on new capacity.

So, what does this mean for all of us and how can we best manage these challenges? Well as the title of this article suggests, the more forward planning and ordering that we can do as an industry, the more time we have to manage the inevitable ‘bumps in the road’ and plan ahead to next summer. In the meantime, we look forward to catching up with members at the annual Schoolwear Show on 10-11 October 2021.”

Matthew Easter and Mark Stevenson, co-chairs of the Schoolwear Association.

For more information about how to join the Schoolwear Association, please click here.