・Sales at the end of the fiscal year disappear

``This year's sales are half of last year's sales. We managed to make a small profit due to the cancellation of the contract and the drastic reduction of expenses, etc. The delivery of parts and machines is delayed across the board, and the forecast is not clear, and the site is confused."

　The owner of a small business in the Kansai region explained the difficult situation. Shortages of automobiles and electrical appliances due to shortages of semiconductors became a hot topic. However, soaring prices of switches, relays, and various materials, as well as postponement and undecided delivery times, have spread throughout the manufacturing industry and are becoming a major problem.

・I can't know the delivery date even after getting an estimate

　As expected, a manager in the Kansai region said, ``In terms of equipment, servo motors and linear guides, etc. The delivery time for items that normally take one to two months has been extended to six months to a year.”

　There may be people who say that it is fine as long as they can receive orders even if the delivery time is long, but it is a big problem for small and medium-sized enterprises.

　The demand for reconstruction from the new corona disaster is increasing, but at the same time, it is also a time when orders will increase as we approach the end of the fiscal year. “Usually, we would make an estimate in the beginning of autumn, receive the order around November, and the delivery date would be the end of the fiscal year, which is the busy season. It will be difficult to raise funds,” explains a small business owner in the Chugoku region, explaining the difficult situation.

・Like toppling dominoes

``Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, we have been worried about the supply chain situation, and it was the right decision to stock up twice as much as usual. A production machine broke down at one of our business partners, but it took a long time to procure repair parts, and there was a problem with the supply.There are rumors that some companies are buying them for speculative purposes, but supply has not been met due to increased demand. It seems that manufacturers are prioritizing direct sales to their customers and putting off going through trading companies.”

　This is also the story of a manager in the Kansai region, but he also points out that the impact is widespread like a domino toppling, and that small and medium-sized enterprises will not be able to feel the recovery from the corona disaster after next spring.

On the other hand, a small business owner in the Kanto region said, ``Recently, major electronics manufacturers are increasingly procuring OEM parts and materials from local companies under their own brands through trading companies, rather than from their own overseas factories. When we ask our sales representatives about the prospects of procurement from China and other countries, we get only vague answers, or they honestly say that they don't see any prospects either." It is also pointed out that the efficiency-oriented method of continuing to manufacture important parts at its own factory, but outsourcing other general-purpose and low-priced items and reducing in-house inventory as much as possible backfired this time. do. “That said, it would be unthinkable to restart manufacturing such parts domestically, and the question is how small businesses will hold out until things return to normal,” said the executive. do.

・Soaring shipping costs and container shortage

With the recovery of demand in the United States, imports from China surged. As a result, a large number of containers are concentrated in the United States. On the other hand, due to the shortage of land truck drivers and port workers, the number of stagnant containers has increased rapidly. In addition, shipping companies are concentrating container ships on China-US routes, where cargo is rapidly increasing, which is hindering imports to Japan.

　With the global spread of the new coronavirus in 2020, international supply chains have been disrupted, the procurement of raw materials and parts has become unstable, and prices have risen. A shortage of truck drivers, combined with a shortage of containers, is having an impact on the global manufacturing industry.

In November, the German Machine Tool Manufacturers' Association (VDW) announced that it would revise its growth forecast for the machine tool industry in 2021 downward from 8% to 5%. Due to the recovery from the new corona disaster, German machine tool manufacturers have received many orders, but due to the disruption of the international supply chain, there is a shortage of parts and the operating rate cannot be increased. .

　In this way, the influence is spreading to other countries. In many countries, there is a growing view that the situation in which the manufacturing industry cannot benefit from increased demand will become a hindrance to recovery from the corona disaster.

・Although the general public is not paying attention

``Toyota is increasing orders to subcontractors in an attempt to make up for the delay in production due to the shortage of semiconductors. We don't have enough, so much so that we're calling out to partner companies from other companies," said a small business owner of an auto parts manufacturer in the Chubu region. "Honestly, we don't like the entry of partner companies from other companies, but Toyota wants us to start full production, but we can't predict the future, so they don't want us to make new investments. I'm there," he reveals.

　Germany, France, and China have strongly promoted the electrification of automobiles during the corona crisis, targeting Japanese manufacturers. Japanese manufacturers are also rushing to respond, but the electrification of automobiles will lead to a significant reduction in the number of parts, and it is believed that the structure of the Japanese automobile industry itself will inevitably change significantly if this trend continues.

　The general public is not interested in the impact of the current shortage of parts on small and medium-sized manufacturing industries and changes in the industrial structure due to electrification. There were only a few candidates who were concerned about the issue.In the world, the corona disaster is over, and the world is only talking about the rapid recovery from now on.I think there is little sense of crisis. do.

・It will still take a long time before things return to normal

　A person in charge of industrial support at a local government said, "The repayment of the unsecured interest-free loans that the government has promoted so far will also begin. Parts procurement. The inability to do so becomes a bottleneck, and small and medium-sized enterprises that cannot secure sales will not be able to benefit from the recovery from the corona disaster.In the future, parts such as elevators, fire extinguishers, and waterworks will be in short supply, and prices are rising. "There is a possibility that the impact will spread not only to the manufacturing sector, but also to the commerce and service industries."

　The procurement of raw materials and parts has already had a major impact on the management of small and medium-sized enterprises. And the range is expanding. The normalization of international supply chains is expected to take some time yet. In the meantime, more than a few business owners are concerned that the weakening of Japan's domestic manufacturing industry will continue.

　With the recovery from the new corona disaster, there are more bright topics such as the upward revision of the sales forecast of major companies, but if the footing is not clear, the economic recovery and the maintenance of the international competitiveness of the industry and economy becomes dangerous. Countermeasures are required as a national policy, including the ideal state of the manufacturing industry that forms the basis of the Japanese economy.

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