What is PaladinID doing to be prepared once the supply chain corrects itself and things return to a more normal environment?
DONE: For the past two years, PaladinID has been on a mission to add capacity, both from a supplier and a personnel standpoint. We have positioned ourselves to have redundancy in our manufacturing processes. Meaning, having multiple plants in different locations around the country to produce our labels. If weather or label shortages occur in…
Read MoreWhy can’t the raw material suppliers find other sources and why can’t they ramp up production?
DONE: To answer this question, you need to take a more holistic view of our business environment. The economy has really taken off as we move from the pandemic to an endemic environment. Not only has e-commerce continued to grow rapidly, but general business has rebounded as well. This has led to extremely high demand…
Read MoreHow hard is it for you to get raw materials?
DONE: Very hard. I have been in the printing business for 40 years. Outside of a short time in the early 1980’s when paper for stock computer forms had a significant shortage and allocations occurred, I have never seen anything like the situation we are in right now. It is generational. Almost every one of…
Read MoreIf material is hard to come by and you can’t get everything you need to support your customers, how are you prioritizing your business decisions?
Done: Great question. We have made some tough decisions. We are focused on taking care of our existing customer base, which has supported us for many years. We are turning down opportunities from prospects as we feel a fiduciary responsibility to our current customers. I can’t tell you how many companies have reached out to…
Read MoreAre you trying hard enough?
DONE:Well, if you mean are we speaking with every raw material supplier we know, both domestically and internationally, the answer is yes. Material sourcing and acquisition has become a full-time activity for our strategic sourcing and executive teams. The good news is that we enjoy very solid relationships with our suppliers and spread our volume…
Read MoreWhat is going on with pricing? It seems like costs are going up exponentially.
DONE: You are correct. In 2021, we saw quarterly cost increases for raw materials that averaged 7% – 9% each quarter. And that was in addition to cost increases that occurred throughout the year for everything else we purchase such as: cores, cartons, plastic bags, shrink and stretch wrap, pallets, and ink. Plus, as we…
Read MoreI have been told that pricing may not be able to be held for blanket orders and purchase orders where it may take months to get material. Why?
DONE: Again, we have a perfect storm. Here is what is happening to all label converters right now. We order material for jobs; we won’t see it for many weeks. In the meantime, raw material companies announce a price increase, which takes effect on all shipments within the next month. That means our costs for…
Read MoreWhat should I, as your label supplier, be doing to mitigate the challenges? It’s been so difficult the past two years.
DONE: The best things we can do are: Keep you up to date regarding market conditions and issues. We need to repeat this over and over again so companies really hear what you are saying. Get your orders in early and be prepared for delays and shortages. There is no bullet-proof answer. We try best…
Read MoreWhat worries you the most?
My biggest fear is that label materials become scarce or not available. Second, that prices continue to rise causing end users get creative, finding other options to labels. Let’s face it, we all need to run our businesses and companies will pivot away from problem areas, finding new ways to mark products, identify inventory, track…
Read MoreWhat is the latest on the availability of raw materials for labels? It seems like things have not gotten any better for months now.
DONE: You are absolutely correct; we saw material supplies starting to tighten up over a year and a half ago. Most raw material suppliers predicted things would improve in early 2021. Well, that certainly didn’t happen. Throughout 2021, raw material supply availability continued to get worse. Most of our suppliers responded by enacting allocations on…
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