Supply Chain Issues in the Ski Industry

[dovski]

So my understanding is that most of the European ski manufacturers overcame supply chain issues and were able to produce a full run of the skis, but the gasoline and trucking shortage means skis are piled up at the factory. Even when they get them out of the factory, they then hit the loading/shipping backlog at the port. Once they get through that cluster and make it here, the ships basically drop anchor and wait a month or two before they can enter the port only to then wait to be unloaded, followed by wait for a truck, train, etc. Long story short we may not see some of this years inventory until the end of this season maybe even later. The real question is how long does this disruption to the sales and manufacturing cycle take to play out? Does this years late inventory become next years early arrivals? Will the ski brands have crazy tent sales this summer to clear out the backlog and take a hit on next years sales as a result, or do these issues persist and our sales cycles for ski gears adjust to the new norm? Any way you slice we are in for a wild ride and the smart money is on buying what you want the minute you can get your grubby hands on it.

 

[Moose32]

The Norway gear (jackets, shells, pants, etc) from Phenix is stuck on an ocean container from production (per a Norway skier) but they expect it shortly. Wonder if Asian companies or production is hit harder than others?

 

[Uncle-A]

I was in a clothing store the other day and saw plenty of socks made with Merino wool and they were coming from Italy. We all probably know that Italy was hit very hard with COVID 19 and it was a bit of a surprise to see that many. BTW it was not a ski shop.

 

[doc]

Accelerated my purchase of boots to yesterday. Was in the local ski shop I frequent in the Denver area to see what was new in the boot world, as I was considering buying later in the season, but after seeing what was in stock and listening to the bootfitter on what they're expecting to receive later on in the season (very little) I ended up spending three unplanned hours there and walked out with the only boot in the model I wanted and the size I needed. So if anyone wants the same boot and same size I got, they're out of luck at that shop.

 

[Muleski]

It seems like this may get complicated by some “activity” among serious skiers, like this readership, who do not want to get shut out.

We have a care/Christmas package, or packages, on the way from one of our well wired kids. Mom needs boots. My boots are probably good, but he grabbed liners just to have on the shelf. Skis/bindings. It’s not race stuff. It’s available. It won’t be in February, I fear.

It does seem like a lot of European goods are more available…perhaps excluding ski stuff.

I needed to buy some wine for a very close friend, a neighbor who is Swiss. Was able to get a case of pretty obscure Swiss wine, no problems. BTW, not all for him. I like him, but……..

I’m curious about the stock of things like Hestra?

Strange times. I posted elsewhere that our son was in his LBS in CO, contemplating a rebuild of a bike. I can’t recall if this is Shimano or Sram. The owner said “no chance” on his sourcing what he wants now and told him, seriously, that it may be 2024 before it’s available. Three years?

Which triggered a lot of searching and hoarding by my son….which probably only adds to the problem.

Just amazes me.

 

[Tony Storaro]

I’m curious about the stock of things like Hestra?

They seem to be doing OK by the availability on their EU site.

 

[Seldomski]

EU in talks with China on magnesium shortages

The European Commission is holding talks with China to ease severe shortages of magnesium, it said on Friday, after industry groups warned of potential plant shutdowns that could hit millions of jobs.

www.reuters.com

Magnesium is key ingredient for all aluminum alloys - for instance, titanal.

Aluminum in all sorts of sporting goods, vehicles, etc etc. Chip shortage was the tip of the iceberg.

 

[Muleski]

EU in talks with China on magnesium shortages

The European Commission is holding talks with China to ease severe shortages of magnesium, it said on Friday, after industry groups warned of potential plant shutdowns that could hit millions of jobs.

www.reuters.com

Magnesium is key ingredient for all aluminum alloys - for instance, titanal.

Aluminum in all sorts of sporting goods, vehicles, etc etc. Chip shortage was the tip of the iceberg.

I really don’t want to like. Not at all.
But thanks for posting.

 

[CYJ]

Sold my Black Crows Atris at the end of last season and still looking to refill that mid-100 waisted slot... Should be interesting if I'm out of luck and stuck with my current 'quiver' as is; a 90 waisted park ski and 117 waisted reverse camber pow ski.

 

[Jersey Skier]

It doesn't even matter if the items are produced, just getting them to shops is ridiculously slow too. I just received 4 bikes today. They were shipped from a warehouse about 45 miles north of me. It took 9 days via the trucking company.

The driver said they have so much inventory sitting in the warehouse that they no longer have room to use their fork lifts. Said they have over 80 trailers sitting that they haven't had time to unload and more come every day. He said Amazon screws up everything because they send trailers of goods but say they don't need them for 3 weeks so they just get in the way.

Fun times everywhere.

On the bright side, I now have 4 women's $2000 e-bikes if anyone needs one.

 

[Lorenzzo]

What’s available and what isn’t is difficult to categorize. It isn’t easy to sort out factory closures, existing inventory, shipping access, other supply chain issues and heightened demand as it pertains to each individual thing.

I operated a small port business for a time wherein I received tanker shipments from Asia. I can’t express enough thanks I left that business before Covid. The compression of what’s going on combined with regulatory impacts (more than 20 gov. agencies in some way regulate port business) would test the challenge meter. I once got caught having to choose between risking prosecution as to two different fed. agencies during the gov. shutdown. No knock on the door yet.

So I had some advance awareness of how shipping might have an impact. Thus my waiting on my ski shop’s front step for the first shipment to arrive wherein I bought my new hopefully favorite skis in September. But my shop is waiting on a machine to install the bindings so I may have to go somewhere else for that.

The unpredictability of what’s available combined with examples of sudden supply death followed by possibly years of waiting is going to hit the minds of average consumers. We know how they’ll react, just think TP. Fear creates shortages even in well supplied markets.

Warning folks without fanning the flames makes for a delicate balance. Hang on, this is just getting going.

 

[Tony Storaro]

This thread makes me want to go and buy a crossbow...

 

[ScotsSkier]

This thread makes me want to go and buy a crossbow...

Unfortunately there is an 8 month backlog....

 

[James]

I would think you could send skis and boots by air freight, but that’s backed up too.

A perfect storm for container shipping

Will prolonged disruptions shift the pattern of trade?

www.economist.com

Ships are sitting off Long Beach for 2 weeks. That’s the time to make the US-China trip, so they’re missing a trip coming back.

Shipping Delays & Freight Cost Increases 2024 | Freightos

Shipping internationally? Keep updated on delays and how your freight rates may be affected.

www.freightos.com

What’s available and what isn’t is difficult to categorize. It isn’t easy to sort out factory closures, existing inventory, shipping access, other supply chain issues and heightened demand as it pertains to each individual thing.

I operated a small port business for a time wherein I received tanker shipments from Asia. I can’t express enough thanks I left that business before Covid. The compression of what’s going on combined with regulatory impacts (more than 20 gov. agencies in some way regulate port business) would test the challenge meter. I once got caught having to choose between risking prosecution as to two different fed. agencies during the gov. shutdown. No knock on the door yet.

So I had some advance awareness of how shipping might have an impact. Thus my waiting on my ski shop’s front step for the first shipment to arrive wherein I bought my new hopefully favorite skis in September. But my shop is waiting on a machine to install the bindings so I may have to go somewhere else for that.

The unpredictability of what’s available combined with examples of sudden supply death followed by possibly years of waiting is going to hit the minds of average consumers. We know how they’ll react, just think TP. Fear creates shortages even in well supplied markets.

Warning folks without fanning the flames makes for a delicate balance. Hang on, this is just getting going.

I’d never heard of “LTL”. Less than load trucking. It appears that e commerce, and people’s expectation for “free” quick shipping have exploded the less than load truck freight, contributing to more of these delay problems. Is that right? Confusing-

The rise of LTL: How e-commerce changed the middle mile

Businesses are shipping smaller quantities of freight more frequently, giving logistics professionals more to manage in increasingly complex networks.

www.supplychaindive.com

 

[AmyPJ]

I've come to appreciate this guy's writing as a subscriber to "The Dispatch". This was released a few weeks ago and shone a light on the shipping woes and how long they've been in the making. Note that our ports in the US are woefully behind the times with tech and also manpower.

https://www.cato.org/commentary/americas-ports-problem-decades-making

I'm a big believer that most issues are not easily solvable, this being one of them.

Funny, I used to live in military housing with a million-dollar view of the ports of LA and Long Beach (they are adjacent to each other.) Kind of would like to go back there and see the madness of all those freighters stretching out to Catalina Island and beyond.

 

[martyg]

My son, a ski coach, was in his local bike store the other day. They have a leftover bike in the rafters that he may buy. He said, I may just rebuild mine. Owner said he had been told that he should not plan on the parts until early spring……2024!

Yikes.

At least in bike components, the bottleneck has been raw materials. And since raw materials are not being shipped, those contract factories that produce components are being shuttered. Once raw materials start to flow, plants will have to rehire and retrain staff. Not an easy or quick turn.

 

[Carl]

Truck drivers who take containers from ports to warehouses have been subsidizing the entire distribution system for years. A significant number of them are independent. They traditionally line up at the ports and often wait hours, without pay, to pick up a container. It's kind of a well known secret in the industry that they've been taken advantage of for a long time. There have been efforts by unions to organize without much success. It seems that a lot of these independents dropped out due to the reduced activity during the past 18 months. There are not as many of them and perhaps a good number decided they didn't want to get screwed any longer.


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[martyg]

I would think you could send skis and boots by air freight, but that’s backed up too.
View attachment 145952

A perfect storm for container shipping

Will prolonged disruptions shift the pattern of trade?

www.economist.com

Ships are sitting off Long Beach for 2 weeks. That’s the time to make the US-China trip, so they’re missing a trip coming back.

Shipping Delays & Freight Cost Increases 2024 | Freightos

Shipping internationally? Keep updated on delays and how your freight rates may be affected.

www.freightos.com

I’d never heard of “LTL”. Less tha BRINGS A CAN OR THREE INTO THE COUNTRY IS AT THE VERY BOTTOM OF THE FOOD CHAIN./n load trucking. It appears that e commerce, and people’s expectation for “free” quick shipping have exploded the less than load truck freight, contributing to more of these delay problems. Is that right? Confusing-

The rise of LTL: How e-commerce changed the middle mile

Businesses are shipping smaller quantities of freight more frequently, giving logistics professionals more to manage in increasingly complex networks.

www.supplychaindive.com

Re the graph... it depends who you are and how many containers you ship. For those retailers that are more distribution companies, think warehouse stores, you are playing on an entirely different playing field. That ski brand that brings a can or three in every year is at the very bottom of the food chain.

 

[Eric@ict]

Some companies are electing to ship by air cargo. That’s part of why you are seeing something’s and not others. Everything is very hit and miss.

 

[Eric@ict]

Truck drivers who take containers from ports to warehouses have been subsidizing the entire distribution system for years. A significant number of them are independent. They traditionally line up at the ports and often wait hours, without pay, to pick up a container. It's kind of a well known secret in the industry that they've been taken advantage of for a long time. There have been efforts by unions to organize without much success. It seems that a lot of these independents dropped out due to the reduced activity during the past 18 months. There are not as many of them and perhaps a good number decided they didn't want to get screwed any longer.


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The recently passed law in California is also impacting. It was aimed at contractors and also caught the independent truck drivers.