Updated 12/8/2021
PTS Customers and Partners
As many of you are aware, there is a global chip shortage caused by COVID-19-related shut downs and an unprecedented recovery. This may bring back memories for some of the gas shortages the country experienced in the 70s. Today’s situation began to appear in the AIDC solution market earlier this year. At first, we believed it was short-term; however, it has grown exponentially worse. Cradles and RFID terminals that were out of stock for two weeks, on a bad day, are now forecasted to be resupplied later this year, and some products aren’t arriving until Q2 of 2022. This doesn’t mean that if you order in December you will get it by the end of January; this means if you order it today, you may get it in January, or March/April of 2022. We are currently seeing high demand products arrive in the morning and sell out by the afternoon. It is insane.
What to Do
The advice we are giving our customers is to get in line immediately and place your orders. If you require product for a deployment that has to be completed by Q1 next year, get your orders placed immediately and hopefully you are fortunate and will take product early. If you have an active install that requires backup devices or accessories, get them ordered immediately.
What Not to Do
Every day customers are canceling orders with the belief that someone else has it in stock. As we explain, it is highly unlikely they have product in stock as most manufactures do not allow their VARS to carry stock for distribution. Because of this, we’ve had customers call us to get back in line for product after learning the reseller who promised stock, doesn’t have any.
Why Keep Your Order with PTS?
At PTS, we believe in transparency, proactive measures to prevent problems before they happen and resolve problems quickly when they do happen.
Notes About Current Backorders
PTS was informed by our suppliers that orders on partial hold waiting for backordered items in order to ship complete could no longer be protected. Essentially any in stock product ear marked to ship when back ordered items arrive to complete an order are no longer being protected. This action is expected to start the week of 12/6/21. Suppliers are being instructed to designate orders that can ship immediately as the priority. With this new information we will now be shipping partial orders starting Monday, 12/6/21. If we do not take this action, we risk compounding our backorders even more. PTS understands the inconvenience of receiving incomplete orders and the burden it may place on our customers. With this in mind, we will insulate our customers from any additional shipping charges incurred when making split shipments.