Kitchen & Bath Business January/February 2023 - 27

SUPPLY CHAIN STATUS &
BUILDING MATERIAL PRICES
The issues with the supply chain have kept us all
on our toes, with some describing it as taking two
steps forward and one step back. Some homeowners
have even put off remodeling projects
because of the lack of product availability.
According to NKBA CEO Bill Darcy, the fear
of recession is the top concern for K&B industry
professionals, followed by availability/cost of
skilled laborers and cost of materials. Tied and
ranking fourth on the Q3 2022 NKBA/John
Burns Kitchen & Bath Market Index list of K&B
industry challenges are supply chain disruptions
and inflation.
" As a result of a slowdown in consumer demand
for K&B products in late 2022, inventory
levels have increased and supply chain problems
have eased, in effect allowing the industry to reset
and return to more balanced supply and demand
levels, " said Darcy. " Assuming consumer demand
for K&B products remains soft, we can expect
additional supply chain improvement in 2023. "
Designers are stepping up with solutions to
outsmart the supply chain issues. Toni Wyre, a
consultant at Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects in
Little Rock, Ark., and chair for the American
Society of Interior Designers' National Board
of Directors, remodeled a kitchen last summer
that was originally to be outfitted with all custom
cabinets. The millwork shop with which she was
working got really far behind, so she and her team
defined which elements needed to stay in the
" custom " realm.
" We ordered a few modular cabinets flanked
on each side by custom, which shaved six weeks
off the lead time, " said Wyre. " Those did not
have to be built by the millwork shop, and they
worked well with the custom options. We need
to make some compromises to move forward,
and it should not always have to come down to
one supplier. "
THE SKILLED LABOR SHORTAGE BURDEN
Workforce development has been and continues
to be a huge challenge in our industry, as workers
continue to age out. According to the most
recently released data from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, there are 371,000 unfilled construction
jobs in the U.S.
" Labor shortages are going to remain a fundamental
challenge in industries like construction
in 2023 and for many years to come, " said
Darcy. " The skilled trades positions that remain
the hardest to fill are carpenters, plumbers and
electricians. "
According to Ed Brady, president and CEO
of the Home Builders Institute, now is the time
SURPRISES FROM 2022
" Of the visas applied for in 2022, only 20%
were granted. We are not allowing enough
legal immigrants into the country to provide
the workers we need. "
BRADY, HBI
" High interest rates will fuel the remodeling
industry for years to come. "
EGNER, NARI
" Everything was unexpected, and yet there
were few surprises. "
WYRE, ASID
" We need to make
some compromises
to move forward, and
it should not always
have to come down to
one supplier. "
- WYRE, ASID
" Most economists underestimated the
challenge of inflation and how much the Fed
would tighten monetary policy. We expected
some slowing but not to this extreme. "
DIETZ, NAHB
KBBONLINE.COM
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Kitchen & Bath Business January/February 2023

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