66% of glazing industry representatives expect further price increases from suppliers before the summer is out, according to a survey commissioned by Emplas. The research was carried out this month against a backdrop of continuing inflation, high energy and fuel prices as well as rising labour costs. Just 34% of people who were polled expected to escape cost increases from suppliers.
Jody Vincent, Emplas’ sales director, said: “Every supply chain is under pressure at every level and it appears that a lot of people are resigned to price increases. We’ve pressed our supply chain very hard to do what they can to hold prices. Our scale is helpful in doing that. Despite this, we’ve still had to take our fair share of increases since this year but have been working hard to hold our prices to our customers and will continue to hold them as long as we can sustainably.”
Emplas has invested significantly to drive efficiencies throughout its operation, including a redesign of its factory floor, investment in its fleet and implementing a factory floor leadership programme. Combined, this has contributed to year-on-year efficiency gains of between 12 and 15% across its business, they say – a saving that the business argues has been passed directly to customers in the form of a price freeze since February.
“Costs to our customers are going up,” Jody continued. “People product, everything costs more. Although the market has performed strongly in the first half of the year, it is inevitably down on where we were previously. That is going to put pressure on installers in the second half of this year.
“Holding our prices despite increases from our supply chain, on the strength of the efficiencies that we have gained, has delivered a very real contribution to our customers’ profitability so far this year. We’ll continue to look for those operational gains as we move forward and as long as we can do so without compromising our own profitability or the stability of our business.”
