Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1476200
30 PCB007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2022 least the next time around there will be ground- work for better planning. at is the message I want to give everybody: Please sit down with your customers and your suppliers, try to join up the supply chain, and share what you possi- bly can together. Understand this is not a matter of taking individual advantage. It's a matter of trying to do the best we can as an industry for our con- sumers and our customers. We have a duty, of course, to our shareholders. We have also a duty to keep our supplies running in our mar- kets. We don't stand alone; it would be a trag- edy if we were to take actions that made things worse in North America and Europe. We've already reduced the supply base substantially. I think we've got a duty to do the best we can to keep it going. Don't forget we are strategic suppliers: there are defense, aerospace, and medical supplies that we like to have in our local backyard. e way the charts look now, though, we see a reduction over the years without an uptick. at's the fear, that there could be a step- change again in our industry and move down by another notch in terms of local manufactur- ing and localization. Johnson: You were talking about working with your customers and your suppliers to forecast better. I know I'm asking you to oversimplify, but on average, typically, how much forecast detail do you get from your customers? Morgan: It's a great question. Years ago, I vis- ited a customer and asked, "How's business?" ey replied, "Oh, fantastic. We've got a firm, three-month order book and we've a good view, six months ahead." I had a young sales guy with me in the meeting, and he said to them, "I'm really pleased you're so busy, but why do you only give me three days of forecast?" It was a good question. ey knew their busi- ness at least three months firm out and even six months tentatively, but they only gave us three days. Customers need to share what they have. Sometimes they have a lot of infor- mation or a very small amount of information, but if they share what they have, we can start to plan. Automotive will go to the supply chain and give that information, whatever they've got. Other parts of industry just don't do it at all. Defense is probably the most secretive. Even if they have the information, they won't give it to you because they feel it's secret, which I sup- pose it is. We've got to see us all being in this together, though. If you can pick up the phone to three or four different suppliers and always get the goods you need, it doesn't really mat- ter. But when you get in the position like we are now, when it does matter, then this bit of extra effort in that area is required. If our customers don't have the skill set, or even the willingness, to share that information, it will come as a rude awakening when they run out of materials, and they have to start learning to plan and trust suppliers a bit more. If you've got an order booked for a product, you know you need that supply chain. Johnson: I'm getting the sense that the story is getting more sophisticated about your fore- casting. at seems like that's the only way through this. ere is not much else you can do other than be clear about your forecast, is there? Morgan: Yes, and I think that is the message, because we're not going to build new factories Please sit down with your customers and your suppliers, try to join up the supply chain, and share what you possibly can together.