Many educators are daring to imagine a school year that might be a lot closer to normal than 2020-1 was. But if this vision includes a new or refreshed learning environment, indoors or out, administrators and educators should plan on ordering furnishings and resources as soon as they possibly can.

Because of the global pandemic supply chains will remain extremely slow.

How soon is now?

The past eighteen months have been unprecedented in so many ways and as you may have heard in the news, everything from computer chip makers in Taiwan to renovators down the street have been affected.

The same measures that have been so disruptive in our education environments – social distancing, increased record keeping, staff shortages, plus intermittent and unpredictable shutdowns – affect almost every corner of manufacturing and distribution in virtually every step of the global supply chain.

Shipping times and costs across the Pacific or Atlantic oceans have tripled. According to a recent article in Forbes, on how the container crunch could impact holiday toy sales, prices for shipping containers have increased by as much as 500%.

For our European manufacturers this can add additional delays and strains, as they may be waiting for a key element from China or Bangladesh before they can ship to us across the Atlantic.

Smaller items that could be shipped by air is affected by the reduction of both tourist and business people travel. With half the global passenger fleet being grounded that eliminates cargo space on  planes which had been used for goods shipping. 

Is anybody listening?

Locally, the situation with shipping and courier companies is improving but they are still taking longer than they did pre-pandemic. Workplace restrictions makes each pickup and drop-off take that little bit longer adding up to significant delays. Although stores across Canada have reopened for the most part, many of us have gotten used to e-shopping, increasing demand on delivery companies of all sizes.

Local manufacturing has not been immune to the impact of COVID, either. As has been reported repeatedly in the media, the housing boom in North America has resulted in lumber shortages and cost spikes of almost all raw materials.

On top of that, many organizations, school districts and childcare centres are implementing plans that they’ve had to put off for almost 2 years: openings, redesigns, replacement and replenishing initiatives etc.

LKG is listening!

So, whether you’re an expanding childcare centre; a school creating an outdoor classroom; an afterschool program or a parenting centre that is opening its doors for the first time in months, plan and decide now to avoid disappointment in September.

Connect with us at LKG and we can help:

• Checkout our new Outdoor, Infant and Toddler Classroom Planning Guides completely revamped for 2021.  (Pre-school coming soon!)

• Be inspired by one of our many on-demand webinars – Well-Being and Identity, Outdoor Learning, Early Years Coding and more.

• Request a personalized quote or room plan (for Community Playthings furnishings).

Come to us with your timeline and needs and we can deliver the best implementation advice available from a team with decades of experience.