Managing Australia’s supply issues and rising costs.

As demand for materials and labour increases, the Housing Industry Association (HIA) has commented that Australian builders face a challenging year.

While the demand for property has skyrocketed, the pace of construction for new homes has dropped by 30% – made worse by the outbreak of Omicron, which has forced many businesses to put work on hold or adapt their timelines with dropping staff numbers. 

Supplies have been hit too, with costs up 8% Australia-wide and Victoria the worst hit at 10.2%.

We spoke to Colin Rice, Mitre 10’s Group Trade Manager, about what businesses can expect, and how they can get help managing the current supply chain issues with their unique Group/Trade Account Manager service.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the current shortages will be alleviated soon. 

Most trade businesses will see the same challenges continue for the rest of the year, meaning having a long-term plan in place will be important, as well as factoring in shortages and labour so things can run relatively smoothly.

That’s where having access to a Trade Account Manager could be helpful to your business. Essentially, it gives you someone to work closely with in forecasting and being as prepared as possible for demand.

Cash flow

Typically, prices will increase every quarter or 6 months, but are currently being seen to shift every 30 days. A huge challenge already for builders, the inconsistency of the supply chain and increased material costs will mean it’s important to keep an eye on your bottom line.

Delays

In the past, builders could call Mitre 10 and ask for a timber delivery the next day. But, with the current supply issues, Trade Account Managers are planning and ordering 2-3 months in advance for their customers to ensure core framing materials will get through in time. 

Structural timber comes from overseas, so needs the longest lead time, whereas pine framing sourced domestically will take less time.

Demand

While supply issues and resultant delays are slowing construction, demand for these projects has not lessened. This extra pressure will likely bottleneck at the builders, meaning extra stress in juggling expectations, timings, labour and costs.

The key job of a Trade Account Manager (or TAM) is to anticipate and forecast demand for the customer, providing an accurate look ahead at supply, prices and delivery.

Your Trade Account Manager will seek to:

• Find ways to reduce your business costs by introducing you to Mitre 10’s digital trade online platform, allowing you to better streamline your process.
• Find all you need, all in one place. By providing everything from timber framing to kitchen cabinetry, Mitre 10 reduces the number of suppliers you need to go through, and offers personal, all-round assistance to get every aspect of the job done.

Essentially, our Trade Account Managers’ roles are to take some of the pressure off clients and work with them throughout the build process.

Our forecasting capabilities provide you with as accurate a snapshot of the supply chain as possible, letting you better plan your projects around expected delays and upcoming price pressures on in-demand materials – especially important at the minute.

This continues right through to delivery. With orders occasionally not arriving in full even with proper planning in place – thanks to the inconsistency of the market – our Trade Account Managers work tirelessly with their builder customers to find a solution and keep the build moving.

Talk to a Mitre 10 Trade Account Manager today.

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