SEPCO CEO and Co-Owner Chris Wilder answered some questions from Pumps & Systems on the state of the industry heading into 2022.
1. How have price increases of products or materials impacted your company?
We are in the same situation as everyone. With logistics bottlenecks causing much of the problems, material delivery availability and costs have affected our production capabilities. We continue to source from different vendors and do everything in our control to get our solutions to our customers as timely and cost effectively as possible.
2. What industry trends are you seeing going into 2022?
We expect the migration to renewable energy sources to be a big trend in 2022. The accelerated focus on reducing carbon footprints will push all companies to add to their sustainability initiatives. We plan to add solar panels to the rooftop of our manufacturing facility and generate more than 50% of our energy demand from the sun.
3. What needs to happen in regards to industry improvements?
In our industries, we encourage people to focus on the most reliable solution for their applications. Often, a lower price or “what we’ve always used” prevents plant teams from changing technologies. Implementing pilot programs on a few assets is a way to see if a new technology provides improved reliability and asset availability.
4. What issues have you seen with any material shortages or supply chain issues?
Everyone is experiencing this problem. We have seen delays in material availability and shipping, which of course lead to backlogs in any company. Sourcing from several providers and always looking for other sources helps us avoid problems as much as possible.
5. What’s on your mind?
Hope. Hope that we continue to move back to more normalcy in 2022 for our customers, our personnel and our logistics and supply chain.