ImagesMagUK_September_2021

www.images-magazine.com 30 images SEPTEMBER 2021 INDUSTRY ISSUES layers and leggings have been made compulsory in some schools, enabling kids to wear them to school instead of more formal uniform through the week. “We feel very strongly that good stock levels is singularly starting to become the key factor for our customers, assuming quality and price are a given. Asking our suppliers to hold both fabric and finished garment stocks for call off is also something we continue to do wherever possible for running styles to reduce lead times and react to surges in demand.” New styles have also been developed, he confirms, despite the difficulties the team had to overcome in not being able to see suppliers and factories in person to discuss new developments. Don’t panic Dae Ha UK, which distributes Dae Ha films as well as Lotus heat presses, has always worked three to four months in advance of shipments arriving, but it’s the unpredictability of the current shipping times which is most challenging, says Michael – door-to- door shipping times have increased from 40-42 days pre-Covid to 52-92 days since the pandemic started. Since mid-2020, the company has increased its stock in Korea (where film manufacturer Dae Ha is based) and the UK, and has spread its container shipments out more regularly rather than grouping them together in order to minimise the impact of any delays en route from Korea. “Working with a large international logistics company, we are also able to secure container space in advance, to shorten the lead-time from the product leaving the factory to physically leaving Korea.” Dae Ha UK’s costs have increased four-fold, with the possibility of going five-fold or more in the run up to the peak shipping season of August through October, he adds. “With costs increasing at every turn, we’re acutely aware of the pressures that are building for our customers,” says Michael. “We’re proud that increased sales, plus changes we have made since February 2020 both in Korea and the UK to increase productivity and to how we ship our rolls, have allowed us to maintain our current competitive pricing. “To date, Korea has not been in lockdown, but to mitigate the possibility, Dae Ha has increased stockholding of all raw materials to ensure continuity of supply to its global customers, and as such, there have been no major issues. Silicone Ultra HTV has been our only casualty, due to a global shortage of silica, particularly for the premium grade we require for our products.” To offset this, Dae Ha has created 45D Plus, a PU-based high-build film for which the company controls all aspects of manufacturing, and Silicone Ultra will be back in 2022. “Don’t panic!” is Michael’s straightforward advice to UK garment decorators. “Dae Ha customers have nothing to fear regarding our stock holdings.” The company prides itself on managing stock levels “to ensure the highest level of trust with our customers” and Michael says Dae Ha UK is “very confident we’ll maintain our current prices through 2021. While raw material costs and shipping may increase for 2022, we remain committed to offering an unrivalled quality to price ratio for all our HTV.” Is nearshoring the answer? The long-term answer to the shipping issues exposed by Covid may be to shift manufacturing either to the UK or nearer home. David Luke was already exploring nearshoring before 2020, explains Ian. “We manufacture mainly in the Indian Sub-Continent and China; the main reasons for consideration [for nearshoring more production] prior to Covid was based on extending shipping times impacting on stock availability and service levels, combined with our overall company approach to the impact we all have on our planet. Since then, both Covid and Brexit have impacted further on every aspect of importing, and it’s become more complicated, service levels have dropped further, and costs have spiralled. We just need to assess if this is a short-, medium- or long-term issue for us. We are always looking at better ways for us to trade sustainably and ethically around the world and we pride ourselves on the longstanding relationships we have with the majority of our supply chain.” The message coming loudly from all UK suppliers is to keep communicating and understand that while some price increases are inevitable, they are working hard to keep them as low as possible. With Christmas and Chinese New Year round the corner, and the Delta variant of the virus causing more lockdowns and mandates for social distancing across the globe, expect more delays and more freight charge increases – but be confident that these seasoned professionals are doing all they can to navigate their way through these choppy waters and bring their goods to UK garment decorators on time and on budget. imagesmag.uk/global-shipping Social distancing of workers at ports has led to delays in loading and unloading ships Door-to-door shipping times have increased from 40-42 days pre-Covid to 52-92 days