For our Steel Fabricating and Construction industry customers, nothing is more important than staying on schedule.
Getting the components and supplies your project needs remains difficult for some of the more specialized items.
Beginning in 2020 the Pandemic created havoc in the supply chain. Everything from raw steel to paint and coatings took a hit. Along the way a few natural / man made disasters added to the problem.
Recovery has been slow and appeared to be steady. But in the last 12 months areas of supply have reverted almost to Pandemic level delays.
Manufacturers and Suppliers can take steps to protect against any of these delays from impacting your project. For example: Anchor Bolt manufacturing is based on round bar supply. With only 7 main diameters covering 95% of the requirements, we can purchase and schedule stock well into the future. To add a level of security The Steel Supply Company keeps a safety stock of as much as 6 months inventory in case mill rolling schedules aren’t kept.
Fig. 1 Anchor Bolts made in
in Steel Supply factories in
West Babylon NY and
Scranton, PA
Plate steel for leveling plates, base plates, shims, etc. can also be stocked well into the future.
Fig. 2 Steel Plate fabricating
done entirely in house with
100% finished product control.
Where it becomes questionable is in all the products that must be made to order. Perfect example is a Turnbuckle and Clevis Rod Assembly. The round bar is in stock as mentioned above. The 
Turnbuckles are standard diameters, same as anchor bolts. So, they can be anticipated. On the other hand, Clevises are fabricated to order. The endless dimensional differences make it impossible to plan for them in advance. For a simple #3 Clevis there can be 6 different thread diameters, 6 different pin diameters, and at least 8 grip widths. That leaves open the possibility of 144 different configurations for the # 3 clevis alone. It quickly becomes impossible to predict Clevis’ needs.
Fig. 3 In this four-way Clevis
Rod Assembly the only item
that cannot be anticipated
is the Clevis itself.
Another example is Neoprene vs. Elastomeric Bearings. Simple Neoprene, ROF Neoprene and Sylodyn® can be kept in bulk inventory well in advance of needs. Fabricating is done in-house and can be kept on schedule. Go from there to Elastomeric Bearings and everything changes. These more complex assemblies are put together from scratch beginning with poured in place rubber and adding layers of steel or fiber mesh as dictated by the engineer. Remember, the bearing fabricator is relying on his suppliers for the components, who are relying on their suppliers and so on. Any one link in the chain breaks and the product is delayed.
Fig. 4 shows a line of finished Elastomeric Bearings where not only were all the physical
dimensions specified but, because these would be clearly visible in the finished project, the architect required an epoxy coating and even dictated the PMS colors which had to be made to order.
Fig. 4 Elastomeric bearings made to specific dimensions but also to
exact colors for esthetic purposes.
Basic take away…. Order early. Leave as much time as possible to allow for the persistent interruptions and shortages that may occur.