Every summer the same scenario repeats in the industry: machine shops closed, budgets not met, suppliers out of service and parts that cannot be manufactured until September. For engineering, automation, robotics, tooling, or R&D teams, August can become a real bottleneck capable of delaying tests, validations, or even the start-up of full production lines.
When a single part fails to arrive on time, the impact goes far beyond the component itself. Tests, design iterations, assemblies and validation processes that depend on it come to a halt. Added to this is the planning cost that many companies shoulder each year to minimize risk: accelerating purchases, increasing safety stock, or extending delivery windows in the face of uncertainty that has already become part of the industrial calendar.
How to maintain project continuity
Facing this situation, meviy, MISUMI’s digital manufacturing platform, shares four recommendations to help companies keep their projects moving during the summer period.
- Assess your suppliers’ risk ahead of time. Before summer, check which of your suppliers shut down, when they do, and for how long, and flag in your work plan any item that falls within those windows. The sooner you detect the overlap, the more options you’ll have and the less likely you’ll be to find out in the same week that a quote is not being answered.
- Plan ahead and batch orders whenever possible. For parts with stable, well-defined designs, the simplest solution is to place orders before the shutdown. Batch orders in advance so the work is completed before capacity becomes constrained. This only works with designs that won’t change, so it’s wise to identify them as early as possible.
- Maintain a supply source capable of guaranteeing continuity and meeting requirements. It isn’t possible to forecast every part months in advance. Last-minute design changes, parts that fail testing, and new requirements generate work that must be done during a plant shutdown. For these, it helps to have an already approved manufacturing path that doesn’t close when everyone else does, so you don’t have to start hunting for suppliers from scratch in August.
- Always have a digital backup plan for the unforeseen. The hardest thing to plan is what you don’t yet know you will need. A digital manufacturing platform lets you upload a 3D model and receive a quote and a feasibility assessment without waiting for the shop to reopen. It does not replace your primary suppliers. It fills the gap they leave.
Although the summer shutdown is part of the industry’s normal operations, planning remains the best tool to prevent a closed supplier from delaying a complete project by weeks. Having manufacturing alternatives available during August enables you to respond to last-minute changes and maintain development pace when traditional channels are not operational.
