Ask any small business owner – or large business owner, for that matter – what his or her biggest challenges are at the current moment.
I guarantee you that they’ll say one of two things. Either: 1) I can’t get enough supply to meet demand, or 2) I can’t find enough workers to meet demand.
Supply and labor shortages have been the bane of business owners in 2021. Just look at what some business owners said about these problems as recently as last month:
“We are still amazed by the labor market. We used to have 100 applicants for an opening; we are now seeing about 10 — and often, the applicant does not show for the interview.” [Paper Products Company]
“Demand far outweighs supply for goods and services.” [Transportation & Warehousing Company]
“Lack of labor and escalating costs from every direction are very concerning.” [Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products Company]
“Supply chain concerns are growing beyond electronics and chips into most other commodities. Lead times are extending, shipping lanes are slowing, and we will not see an end to this in 2021.” [Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components Company]
Of course, part of the problem is that U.S. companies have – for decades – outsourced supply chains to China, India, and other parts of Asia, where labor is cheap. The problem therein is that those emerging economies do not have the same resources as the U.S. to handle the Covid-19 pandemic, and therefore, they are a few months behind the U.S in terms of controlling that problem.
That means that while U.S. consumers are ready to buy at full capacity again, Chinese and Indian producers aren’t ready to manufacture at full capacity again. Sure, this is just a temporary disconnect – but it comes on the heels of the U.S.-China trade war in 2018 that also put undue pressure on globalized supply chains.
To that extent, lots of companies are getting fed up with relying on China and India to make their goods, regardless of how cheap they are, and therefore, lots of companies are making a push to localize their supply chains.
But that only fixes half the problem. What about those labor shortages?
If U.S. companies localize their supply chains that means they’re going to need to hire more folks than ever to manage those supply chains. But, even without localized supply chains today, you’re looking at a labor shortage.
Add in a whole bunch of new job openings through localized supply chains, and boom, you’re looking at an intensely competitive hiring market where companies: 1) Can’t get enough employees to run those local supply chains, and 2) Where they have hired employees, they’re paying extremely high wages.
So, while U.S. companies are looking to localize their supply chains, they cannot possibly manage those local supply chains with employees in the current labor market unless they sacrifice profits – which, as we know all too well, is something corporate America is not going to do…
The fix?
Automate the localized supply chain via robotics.
That is, if I’m a company that is supplying product from Asia, what I’m going to do in 2022 is bring my supply chain stateside, invest in automated technologies, and set-up an entirely automated supply chain run by robots that don’t require a salary. That way, I bypass both the current supply and labor shortages, produce enough goods to meet demand, see a boost in sales and decrease costs, and ultimately make more profits.
Corporate America serves profits. To that extent, we’re very confident they’re going to invest heavily in supply chain automation and robotics in 2022 – if only to boost their profits amid intense supply and labor shortages.
That’s why we’re insanely bullish of supply chain automation and robotics stocks for the next 12 months (and beyond) … because they have the potential to solve America’s biggest economic problems at the current moment.
In particular, we like one robotics stock above all others to solve this problem, mostly because we think this company has the most robust technology and impressive team in the supply chain automation world.
We just issued a Buy Alert on this single robotics stock in our most premium stock research service, Early Stage Investor, where we invest in the world’s most innovative companies, transformative megatrends, and breakthrough technologies – all while they’re still very early-stage and have yet to score shareholders huge returns.
In short, we’re looking for the next Amazon, the next Facebook, and the next Netflix.
We think this tiny company could be that big one day, and eventually turn into one of the stock market’s biggest winners… ever.
Opportunity’s knocking. Are you going to answer? Click here to find out more.
On the date of publication, Luke Lango did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
