To cope with shortages, Northern Kentucky manufacturers are looking to diversify their suppliers, just like their counterparts around the world.
During an Eggs 'n Issues Chamber event Tuesday, candy maker Perfetti Van Melle CEO Sylvia Buxton says it's not just geopolitical and post-COVID events that are causing delays, but also global warming.
"We manufacture confection products," she says. "A lot of our products contain natural ingredients like wheat, glucose, corn, sugar. Those ingredients have been impacted with a lot of the challenges of the environment. And we see that crops are failing and that causes major issues with cost as well as availability."
The maker of Mentos, Airheads and about two dozen other candy brands with U.S. headquarters in Erlanger, is also looking to move more manufacturing to the U.S. This is, in part, because the cost of refrigerated shipping containers — which rose from $5,000 to a high of $32,000 during COVID — still hasn't gone all the way back down.
Third-party logistics provider Verst Logistics, based in Walton, is also pivoting to prevent delays. "You can't have just one standard way of doing things saying, 'irregardless of the circumstances around me, I'm going to stay in my lane,' " says CEO Todd Johnson. "You can't do that anymore. You've got to be flexible. You've got to be creative in finding solutions to these challenges we face."
Johnson says it's still hard to find employees. That started pre-COVID. His company uses robots alongside workers, which is becoming standard for many businesses.
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Frank Jemley III is president and CEO of the Kentucky Association of Manufacturers. He encourages companies to reach out to high schools. He told attendees at the Chamber event, "A vocational and technical career is what America needs a whole lot of."
To help with supply chain issues in Northern Kentucky and beyond, his agency and the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development have rolled out a new platform. Connex Kentucky connects Kentucky manufacturers to large buyers. The goal is to boost job growth and reduce costs. The online tool provides a searchable supply chain database with 140,000 manufacturers locally and nationally.
