Do you know when they are likely to be back in stock Alex? are we likely to find that certain window cleaning equipment is going to become unavailable over the coming months due to lock down of manufacturing and the supply network across the world? are there certain items that it would be wise to stock up on now as we go forward the next 6-12 months?
Hi Simon
As mentioned on the product page we are expecting the backpacks to be available by Mid-July - could be a little sooner, but difficult to say at this stage.
Is the lock-down affecting production? It has affected certain goods already - the last batch of backpacks were delayed by about 6 weeks due to factory closures in China in February/March. This created a backlog in demand so that when the shipment arrived they were then in much higher demand - combine this with more people wanting sprayers for other purposes and the batch did not last long. This next batch should sell at a slower pace and we have our next production run all planned so for the backpacks the only issue we have is 'catching up' from the previous delays - there is actually no issue with production now.
Apart from the backpacks the only other major supply issues have been:
1. Hose - Hose production suffered about a 2-3 month pause in this country. Fortunately we had a very good stock of hose which we have been working our way through and production has now re-started just in time for our stocks levels.
2. Extra Large size of Biodegradable Nitrile Gloves - getting hold of these is becoming more difficult now - we started off with a very good stock of certain sizes which is why these are still in stock. This is due to high demand and not a problem with production.
3. Not something that most will notice, but cardboard has come under greater demand and a supply shortage so we have been having to use different cardboard packaging than usual for the last week or so.
Regarding other items in our product range we have a good stock and supply stream, with no known manufacturing delays due to the lockdown. Other retailers may be facing different supply issues than we are depending on the country of manufacture.