Portable Sanitation Association International

ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT Portable Sanitation Association International News BIWEEKLY EDITION APRIL 14, 2021 Page 10 Q: What products are affected? A: Suppliers shared a variety of responses; in general, the answer can be summarized as "all of them." "Every day we are having another product delay … we are not having vendors meet production timelines given to us on almost any component. Production timelines are ballooning at rates we have never seen before." —Keegan Campbell, Ameri-Can Engineering "These shortages are extending lead times in production … of basically the entirety of PolyJohn's product line." —Sam Cooper, PolyJohn "[The current shortages] will affect all aspects of our manufacturing from deodorizers to portable restrooms. Not only the product ingredients themselves [are affected but also] the plastic containers all manufacturers use to ship the final goods to our customers are affected." —David Roncadori, J&J Chemical Co. Q: Are you finding or making workarounds or substitute materials? A: Companies in the portable sanitation industry are working hard to find alternatives. However, so is the rest of the world, and competition is fierce. Suppliers to portable sanitation operators are also committed to making sure that any substitute material will hold up in the long run, so these manufacturers are cautious about adopting changes that won't stand the test of time. No company wants to damage its reputation over the longer term as the result of short-term decisions. "We are working on alternative materials and alternative suppliers to increase the availability of production materials." —John Babcock, Satellite Industries "We have had a major turnover in suppliers and are at times on our third or fourth backup supplier to find solutions for materials. We have increased our square footage for material warehousing and have increased purchase orders looking at the third and fourth quarter. We have changed some materials, but there are some [where even our] second and third choices are not available." —Keegan Campbell, Ameri-Can Engineering "…[T]here is an extreme shortage of available material forcing manufacturers to reach out to other suppliers, countries, and anywhere possible to locate raw material. At times, the only material that can be found is material of a lesser grade of quality and we have to be really careful, especially in making portable toilets that get regular aggressive use (and abuse) to make sure they [will] hold up in the field long term." —Karl McMichael, Armal "We will always try and be there when you need us. But this year, it will take all hands on deck and some creative solutions to achieve that goal." —Sam Cooper, PolyJohn Supply Issues Create Challenges and Opportunities…continued from page 9 David Roncadori Keegan Campbell Continued on page 11

• Cover