Durex Products president Chad Hackett likes what he sees within his customer base these days.
“Everyone is booming now,” says Hackett, whose company supplies a variety of industries with screen media. “All of our customers are busy. They don’t slow down.”
His customers are even finding ways to produce materials for longer stretches of the year.
“There aren’t the normal shutdowns like there were,” Hackett says. “Demand is out there, so [customers] just keep cranking away, which is great for all of us.”
The environment at this year’s AGG1 Aggregates Academy & Expo and World of Asphalt was a reminder that the times are great not only for those producing construction materials, but for those supplying equipment and parts. The co-located trade shows drew a record number of attendees to Nashville, Tennessee, bringing some industry stakeholders together for the first time in two years.
“AGG1 was buzzing, wasn’t it,” says Jason Adams, senior vice president at Superior Industries. “We invested cautiously, but definitely felt more and more momentum the closer we got to the event. Once in Nashville, we were very pleased with the attendance and happy to meet with everyone face-to-face. People like buying from people in our industry, and we’re happy about that at Superior.”
Adams, for one, expects the momentum gained at AGG1 and World of Asphalt to carry over to next year’s ConExpo-Con/Agg in Las Vegas.
“We’ve got great optimism for ConExpo-Con/Agg 2023 and are expecting awesome attendance,” Adams says. “We recently finished off the list of products we’re planning to showcase and can’t wait to share a bunch of new stuff in our booth.”
The supply environment
While manufacturers like Adams and Hackett are largely beaming about today’s market, they recognize that it is far from perfect.
Lingering supply issues are among the biggest contributors holding the industry back.
“The lead times are frustrating – and in an industry where you used to be able to get things so quickly,” Hackett says.
Still, equipment suppliers are adjusting as well as they can.
“There’s a lot of supply chain planning, forward ordering, more vendor-managed inventory [and] actually getting the stock on the floor and seeing it,” says Chris Larson, general manager of IRock Crushers. “That doesn’t help cash, but in this climate people would much rather have it than not have it. There’s a reasonable investment in that where just-in-time is no more. That whole philosophy is out the window, at least temporarily. I’m sure we’ll go back to it at some degree.”
When exactly that happens is anybody’s guess, though.
“Just when we think there might be a little light at the end of the tunnel, something causes it to dim again,” Adams says. “The war in Ukraine caused steel prices to jump and we’re expecting congestion at the ports again this summer.”
So a good forecast is as important now as ever.
“We’re seeing a change in how dealers forecast,” Adams says. “They’re trying to predict what the market is going to look like in two to three years. It’s a bit unnerving, but they make a living having stock, so they’re making sure they have it.”
Additionally, predictive maintenance tools are becoming more prevalent given the state of the market.
“When things break, it’s usually pretty quick,” Hackett says. “It’s not like you have wear indicators on these wires to say you have a week left. If you’re managing your screens and paying attention, you know you’re going to change them out every four weeks – and then you can stay on top.”