Not only has Brexit increased lead and delivery times for products but the Suez Canal blockage lasting almost a week has caused even more delays to trade An estimated 12% of the World’s trade goes through The Suez Canal so this backlog will continue to negatively affect supply chains for months, if not years to come, increasing not only lead time but also the prices of raw materials.
Lastly, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has impacted supply chains across the globe. With multiple national lockdowns and increasing employee illnesses at all points in the supply chain across the world, the flow of raw materials has been influenced. This has caused a negative effect on manufacturing lead times and deliveries.
What does this situation mean for LEV?
As an employer it is your legal responsibility to keep your employees safe, this includes protecting them from airborne contaminants. However, with current situations you may have to put some extra thought into ensuring your LEV system is running, and continues to run, efficiently.
Many key components for LEV come from abroad and these delays are meaning that assembling LEV systems is taking longer due to differing circumstances around the world. The fans and metal structures are currently seeing delays of around 12 to 15 weeks to reach the UK. Even fans which are assembled in the UK are subject to delays due to
Issues sourcing the metal along with ever increasing price rises as companies work to make up
for supply chain backlogs caused by COVID-19 and the Suez blockage. Subsequently, there are much longer times for new LEV systems and for the parts needed for repairs.
How should you plan for your LEV?
Due to the current global circumstances, it is important to plan ahead. If you’re going to need a new LEV system in your factory, you should be factoring the expected delay on top of the time taken for enquiry, consultation and design. This means you should prepare for a 15 week buffer period between paying the deposit for your new LEV system and being able to use your workspace safely in accordance with building regulations and the Health and Safety Executive.
If you already have an LEV system, it is important to stay on top of servicing and try to catch any potential problems and breakages as soon as possible. This means that new parts can be ordered and fitted with minimal impact to your operations.
Get in contact with one of our expert engineers to service your LEV to see if you need to plan ahead for any potential problems. A competent LEV testing and servicing engineer will help you find and resolve problems quickly and efficiently.
This is a confusing time for supply chains but when it comes to your LEV you can stay one step ahead with proper planning. For any advice or assistance you can get in contact with a member of our team who will be happy to help.