Pat O'Brien, Vice President / General Manager, ITW EAE

Inventory shortages have certainly proven to be a challenge this year. Shipping product to our customers has been a struggle, though thankfully, our customers understand what is happening in the industry and work with us to secure alternate parts--whether that is through our purchasing and project management teams' agile coordination or through an approved broker network that aggressively procures scarce components.

We expect this challenge to continue into the first half of 2022 and expect recovery to ramp up in the second half of the year.

Staffing qualified and motivated employees is a priority for the company with an emphasis on qualified. As a Class 2 and Class 3 manufacturer with an AS9100 quality system in place, our strict standards are non-negotiable. Luckily, we have very little turnover at all three of our locations in the U.S. and we do not anticipate that changing in 2022.