Anyone seeing loads of material shortages yet?

[iPrintStuff]

So I’m from the UK and luckily we have a good few different suppliers set up but it’s getting harder and harder to get the media in to do all our jobs.

Don’t get me started on floor graphic material, though just now we need a pretty endless supply. Getting all our customers back up and ready to start opening back up means we have a LOT of huge jobs and they all want them ASAP! This is probably the busiest we’ve ever been in such a short space of time!

just wondering how you’re all getting on?

 

[WYLDGFI]

We've had shortages here as well. The floor graphics being the first. Coroplast is being delivered pretty timely, good Digital acrylic isn't available as of yet.

 

[strypguy]

We are so slow right now I don't need to worry about getting any materials. John

 

[bannertime]

Our only issue has been UPS. Everything else has been pretty normal.

 

[Gino]

Acrylics are a nightmare. I heard they're something like 16 weeks out on that alone. Some of the other substrates are a tad hard to find, but they seem to be around somewhere..... plus the costs have gone up.

 

[iPrintStuff]

Surprisingly our main supplier hasn’t put any prices up for us yet, that may be because we’re spending a small fortune every day on media hahaha

 

[Bly]

Floor graphics material is scarce which makes it hard because that's a big part of the work available right now.
Along with 4.5 and 6mm clear acrylic.

 

[iPrintStuff]

Floor graphics material is scarce which makes it hard because that's a big part of the work available right now.
Along with 4.5 and 6mm clear acrylic.

are you laminating the floor graphics coming off the Colorado or do you get in the anti slip vinyl? We’ve found the anti slip stands up to pretty tough wear and tear without lamination but have had to just laminate some regular vinyl with the anti slip laminate due to material shortages. The extra step is a pain though!

 

[iam808]

Step Stakes - None of my suppliers have the standard economy step stakes. They're saying sometime in June.

 

[Baz]

Shipping!
Damn near takes forever to get something off of Amazon.
Also placed an order with a supplier who is a two hour drive away from me. Had everything in stock. Shipped with UPS.
I placed my order on May 12 and received confirmation it had shipped the same day. I still haven't received it.
Tracking my shipment says it is stranded in Ottawa (a half hour away from me) for reasons "beyond their control".

These times suck.

 

[StarSign]

Acrylic for sure, I am buying up as much as I can. Deluxe Signcades are in high demand as well.

 

[unclebun]

Just ran into my first issues with delivery of things. Feather flags (which I suspect are really made in China) suddenly started taking a long time to get, and the people I order them from aren't responding to phone and email. Roll of vinyl didn't come, so I called Grimco. Turns out that although Grimco never shut down their warehouses and their sales people were working from home, 3M, Avery, and the like all shut down their warehouses and manufacturing, and even though states are starting to open up, they are not as far as along. So certain colors of vinyl, or products in high demand like floor vinyl are all backordered at the manufacturers. And my salespeople at Grimco can't find out when the products are coming because there is nobody to ask.

Once something gets shipped, or if Grimco has it in stock (and Fellers) the deliveries have been without a hitch through UPS and their own delivery trucks, all through the whole COVID debacle. FedEx, on the other hand, has been a shambles, and I've given up on Amazon.

 

[Bly]

are you laminating the floor graphics coming off the Colorado or do you get in the anti slip vinyl? We’ve found the anti slip stands up to pretty tough wear and tear without lamination but have had to just laminate some regular vinyl with the anti slip laminate due to material shortages. The extra step is a pain though!

We're doing both depending on the product.
TexWalk is just print with no lam - we sell that for outdoor and assorted other flooring.
The Colorado inks seem really durable.
A test piece on our shop floor has held up well apart from where someone dragged sheets of dibond over it.
Indoor smooth flooring gets standard SAV with textured lam.
There are no stocks of either here now and I'm running short.
I put in some pre orders for plenty when stock arrives so hope the demand keeps up.

 

[rjssigns]

Supplier for my foam pvc, acrylic etc...has stuff on the shelf. Supply is not an issue. Problem is the only way to get product is to have it shipped UPS. That would cost more than what I'm charging for the completed work. I'm 15 minutes away and begged them to put the material outside. They refused to do it. Really?! Fortunately I found enough drops to make what I needed. Being a pack rat pays off once in a while.
Going to start looking for a new supplier.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Supplier for my foam pvc, acrylic etc...has stuff on the shelf. Supply is not an issue. Problem is the only way to get product is to have it shipped UPS. That would cost more than what I'm charging for the completed work. I'm 15 minutes away and begged them to put the material outside. They refused to do it. Really?! Fortunately I found enough drops to make what I needed. Being a pack rat pays off once in a while.
Going to start looking for a new supplier.

Grimco did that to me. I was out of town installing channel letters and needed some power supplies. I wasn't going to sit and wait all day for them to deliver when my crew was ready to go back home. Told them they can deliver to their next door neighbor because I'll sitting in their parking lot till it arrives and will call and check on it every 15 mins.

 

[rjssigns]

Grimco did that to me. I was out of town installing channel letters and needed some power supplies. I wasn't going to sit and wait all day for them to deliver when my crew was ready to go back home. Told them they can deliver to their next door neighbor because I'll sitting in their parking lot till it arrives and will call and check on it every 15 mins.

I don't understand some business owners. Really irks me that my supplier refused to put stuff outside their door for me to pick up. No contact, social distancing but they refused. Hopefully I can find a supplier for foam pvc then I can refuse to do business with them.

 

[IsItFasst]

I mainly just buy vinyl and have been having to source it from several different sellers instead of just ordering from one place. Or I have to order it in a smaller/larger roll than I normally do. Started well over a month ago for me.

 

[asd]

my only issues are with UPS not delivering, my orders are shipped from the suppliers on time, its UPS taking too long to deliver

 

[bannertime]

my only issues are with UPS not delivering, my orders are shipped from the suppliers on time, its UPS taking too long to deliver

Agreed. They'll deliver half the packages and leave the rest somewhere for delivery another day. We took a truckload directly to the airport hub just to make sure it got there. They didn't even touch them until the next day.

 

[iPrintStuff]

Agreed. They'll deliver half the packages and leave the rest somewhere for delivery another day. We took a truckload directly to the airport hub just to make sure it got there. They didn't even touch them until the next day.

So that’s not just us! DHL picked up 20 rolls of floor graphics material from our supplier, must’ve went to their depot, then left to deliver them to us but only brought 10??? They’ve been giving us loads of half orders even though they’re full when they leave the supplier.