FEATURE
• There are very limited North American manufacturers
• Pricing from North American manufacturers is significantly higher than Asian manufacturers creating great strain on budgets
• Since there are limited North American manufacturers ( and everybody had the same idea ) their factories are full and cannot take on new project work
• Many North American manufacturers use parts from Asia which creates similar issues on shipping
We have started routing Asian product into alternative ports . Most Asian product comes in through the West Coast of the U . S ., but due to port backups we have started routing product in Houston , Savannah , etc . Although the product may be on the water longer , it can get processed a bit quicker .
We are also working with manufacturers that have multiple facilities throughout the world ( Asia and Europe ). Some production has been able to be shifted to Europe , which has provided some help but the container shortage is worldwide not just from Asia .
Erica Slaw : We ’ re working with a variety of new domestic vendors so we can at least remove ocean transit and port congestion risks . Domestic transit costs are inflated as well but with high container costs and the unreliable shipping timelines , domestic production is very attractive . We ’ re even finding some overseas vendors opening factories in Mexico and Central
America as local alternatives to compete with domestic . Depending on a renovation scope and the project risk , we ’ re also keeping a lot of existing product in storage during renovations in case we need to temporarily reuse existing , which is fairly easy to do in public areas but challenging for guestrooms . And , of course , we ’ re extending our pre-construction timelines three to six months to build in buffer for product and material delays that would impact business .
Shahid Javed : Aimbridge has identified additional sources of supply , proposed alternative products , identified domestic manufacturing capability and brought procurement closer to the spot of consumption .
H : Any challenge with specific goods and how have you and your customers worked around it ? Long : Materials that incorporate finishes that are only available from Chinese sources have been a challenge . We have also run into fabrics that are no longer available because of their yarn supplier . In both instances , we worked with the designers and vendors to identify alternative ways to meet the same design goal . This requires extra time and attention from the project team to creatively come up with solutions .
Zeitner : The biggest challenge has been with case goods / furniture . Most of this production is in Asia , it ’ s large , heavy and takes up the most container space . We have been able to move some production to North America and Europe but that capacity is limited . We are also placing orders as early in the process ( typically several months earlier than previously ) to try and
WE ’ RE WORKING WITH A VARIETY OF NEW DOMESTIC VENDORS SO WE CAN AT LEAST REMOVE OCEAN TRANSIT AND PORT CONGESTION RISKS . DOMESTIC TRANSIT COSTS ARE INFLATED AS WELL BUT WITH HIGH CONTAINER COSTS AND THE UNRELIABLE SHIPPING TIMELINES , DOMESTIC PRODUCTION IS VERY ATTRACTIVE .
ERICA SLAW
66 hotelsmag . com March / April 2022