Please see below our statement with regards to the current global computer chip shortage;
You may have seen in news reports recently that there is currently a global shortage of computer chips. This shortage has affected many different industries and products including cars, mobile phones and kitchen products. It is also likely to have an impact on the Fire & Security industry as the situation progresses and we wanted to keep our customers abreast of developments.
At present we are seeing minimal effect from this situation to our supply chain, but it is unlikely our industry will avoid any impact as the year and situation progresses. This could potentially lead to longer lead times for products and in worse case lead to some items only being available on back order until the situation improves.
We have reached out to various manufacturers including Advanced, Kentec, Siemens, Gent, EMS and Honeywell, and of those who have provided a statement or comment of their own, very few have been able to guarantee that they will be unaffected by this shortage.
According to reports by reliable media outlets such as the BBC, the shortage is expected to last until the end of the year at least, and has the potential to still cause disruption into 2022.
While it is a difficult situation to mitigate against there are potentially options that can be explored should you need to guarantee full operation of site systems in the event of a shortage, such as acquiring spares for current systems or conducting scheduled works/upgrades earlier in the year than originally planned. Should this be an idea you wish to explore further please contact your account manager or email [email protected].
We will continue to engage with our suppliers and industry bodies to ensure we are acting and providing good advice to our customers and we shall provide further updates as and when necessary.
Signed,
Richard Miller
Operations & Compliance Manager