Supply Chain Disruption and UK Sourcing Benefits

It’s hard not to have missed the Ever Given container ship stuck across the width of the Suez Canal for this last week. Whilst it appears to have been freed today, the disruption it has caused to global supply chains is incredible. This disruption is yet to be felt in its entirety but there will be ramifications rippling through supply chains for many months.

Along with the disruption Covid-19 has caused to supply chains in the last 12 months the pain and cost that this will cause to businesses worldwide will again leave many companies that rely on these global supply chains to once again review their processes.

In the last 12 months, we have been working with a number of well-known brand names as well as smaller but equally important businesses on sourcing their cable assemblies directly in the UK. Some of these businesses may have already sourced some of their stocks in the UK but are switching their focus to UK suppliers in order to reduce uncertainty and in many cases to also mitigate against soaring costs.

This story on the BBC website about how one company was being quoted £10,000 for a container that was previously costing £1,600 a couple of months earlier is a good example. Plus, that was pre Ever Given causing massive disruption on the Suez Canal. Reports of a rush for air freight in the meantime has also been reported. Air Freight is already stretched with costs spiralling due to a lack of capacity due to the ongoing Covid pandemic.

Taking all these factors into account, rising costs, long delays and increased uncertainty, sourcing closer to home can in many cases be significantly more appealing as well as more cost-effective.

St. Cross Electronics has been supplying Cable Assemblies and Harnesses to businesses worldwide for nearly 40 years. We work with many famous brands, some of which we are under NDA’s so we are not even allowed to talk about them – that’s how much trust these companies place in us to deliver the best cable assemblies from our UK facilities.

Since the start of the pandemic, we have continued to operate at nearly full capacity and sometimes above it on critical projects. This has meant that we have ensured a smooth, reliable and cost-effective supply chain for our customers with minimal disruption. We have invested in gold standard covid testing protocols to keep our staff safe throughout the pandemic and are proud to have continued to grow our business during this time.

If you are interested in how we can help your business mitigate against supply chain disruption and reduce your overall supply costs, please get in touch as we would love to hear from you.

Please contact one of the sales team on +44 23 8022 7636, or by email to sales(at)st-cross-electronics.co.uk