Suppliers serving this newspaper continue to struggle with supply shortages. This week, one of those shortages reduced the number of pages we were able to print. We have had plenty of news and advertising to fill more than 12 pages but we only had enough plates for 12 and so advertisements, news and photos planned for this week were held out.
While the plates we have had on order for several weeks were not scheduled to be made until Tuesday, July 30, the manufacturer agree to ship a partial order with an expected arrival of Friday. When we ordered the plates, we were first told not to expect them until late August. Thankfully, they have been able to adjust production and ship at least a partial order this week.
Likewise the film we use is in short supply but Tuesday morning we were notified our order had been shipped, about one month after it was placed.
As both film and plates have a limited shelf life, it is difficult to anticipate future need and time deliveries to arrive as needed.
And the manufacturers report often there is only one supplier in the entire world for some of the materials. For example, the aluminum used to manufacture our plates in Indiana comes from England. Last we knew, the film was being manufactured in France.
On Tuesday a pressman for a newspaper in the St. Joesph, Missouri, area called to discuss a press problem he was having. He offered to provide us plates for this week’s run but we couldn’t drive to his plant and return before our printing deadline. But it is good to know about his shop and his willingness to help.
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