Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1447212
70 SMT007 MAGAZINE I FEBRUARY 2022 "roughout this shortage of supply and person- nel, Manncorp has weathered the storm by owning our assets, having fixed costs whe ever possible, and having an excellent team of in-house employ- ees," Mann says. "What can be done in-house (such as marketing, advertising, customer service, information technology, operations, and sales) are being kept in-house. is in-house model allows for control and lower overall costs. is model also allows for the things that are not up to us (such as the rising costs of shipping) to be averaged out. We absorb some input costs and only pass on minimal price increases, thanks to the flexibility of in-house production and staff. "Our biggest challenge is keeping up with ris- ing costs and lead times. We usually must touch a quote two to three times before we receive a pur- chase order. Supply chain issues and rising costs have added a lot of additional quote time on the front end. We can expect this to continue for the foreseeable future, so our goal is to plan way ahead of the need and try to get ahead of the curve." Over at MEC, Benson says it's "just the mechan- ics of keeping up with it all. Even though almost everyone is understanding, we still don't like price increases either coming in or going out. Qual- ity and delivery are always our top priorities, but we always want to give good value too. ere are so many moving parts to this current environment: hiring challenges, COVID safety procedures, COVID cases, shortages, customers' own uncer- tainties, and more. It's just a big challenge to keep up with it all. e saving grace is that we are all in this together." e biggest challenge, therefore, is the extra labor resources that go into managing this chal- lenging time in the supply chain. Once again, the challenge to hire qualified staff likely means that other employees are redirected from their pri- mary job function to help fill in the gap. If this extra effort pulls labor resources away from other projects like capital equipment upgrade plan- ning, or similar strategic improvements to staff the overstressed quoting team, there can be sig- nificant long-term impact from this short-term situation. SMT007 Toyota's global production plan in Feb- ruary 2022 is expected to be around 700,000 units. Current demand is very strong, therefore Toyota is aiming for a high February production plan. How- ever, due to the impact of the continuing demand for semiconductors across all industries, the company has adjusted its production plan by around 150,000 units globally. As a result of the revision, the full-year production forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022 is expected to be lower than the previous forecast of nine million units. With regards to the shortage of semi- conductor-related parts, the company will continue to examine the situation and consult with all companies involved in considering the use of substitutes where possible in anticipation of a con- tinuing shortage. It will also continue to work with our suppliers in strengthening the supply chain and make every effort to deliver vehicles to our customers as soon as possible. Toyota Adjusts Production Plans due to Impact of Continuing Demand for Semiconductors