Managing a company, Level 7 Chemical , during Chemical Supply Chain disruption

Struggles during supply chain disruption 

Since the start of the pandemic, operating any business has been a struggle. 2020 and 2021 have really been difficult years to operate businesses in. Supply chains are stretched to the max and a lot of needed raw materials and chemicals are hard to source and sometimes nearly impossible.

As the US economy has rebounded, many raw  material manufacturers have found themselves looking for scarce feedstocks, which has really hobbled their ability to produce needed chemicals that are used to manufacture other important products used in further manufacturing. If, for example, chemicals like caustic soda, or citric acid or basic solvents are hard to produce and hard to source, then consumer goods like paints, coatings, adheives, and detergents are also going to be in tight supply since they are building blocks for so many of these widely used products. 

What do these challenges mean for Level 7 Chemical?

As  supply chain challenges have developed, a chemical supplier like Level 7 Chemical has had to adjust to becoming more of a  sourcing resource versus, operating as a company that stocks products in a warehouse with immediate shipping.    We have to use our time and resources differently now. Our focus is assisting customers find and source chemicals and ingredients that may be hard to find, and then get them shipped as quickly and eficiently as possible.  We may not have the stock available in the warehouse  and ready to ship "on demand" like we have in the past.  Because chemical costs have increased so dramatically  it is hard to have a large amount of a wide variety of chemicals. We have to carefully choose what to stock to preserve cash flow  and to be able to adjust to changing market conditions. 

Successes - Getting customers what they need, when they need it. 

Over this past year, even during thee supply chain disruptions, we  have had so many examples of succes with this new business model,and have assisted several companies of all sizes get their required chemicals and ingredients and keep running.  

A large manufactuing plant producing auto parts was out of a specialty solvent, N-Methyl-2- pyrrolidone, also called NMP  required for a major cleaning operation in the plant,. Running out meant having to shut down part of their plant and send people home. Through our network we were able to help them locate and procure enough to keep them up and running for the next week to ten days. They sent a truck down to our warehouse  on a Saturday, to pick up a drum to get them by until the rest of their shipment of 12 drums arrives to them by Wednesday.  We were glad to be able to help them keep their plant running, and continue to supply their NMP requirement. 

Recently an oil and gas service company could  not locate a suitable foaming agent to solve a down hole water problem and get a well performing as needed. Their usual supplier could not provide their preffered foaming agent,  Sodium Lauryl Sulfate powder used in the operations. They found Level 7 Chemical on LinkedIn and we immediately got material shipped to W Texas to keep their crews working and their problems solved.  

We are happy to help you source your chemicals and ingredients, even the hard to locate ones. 

Check out Level7Chemical.com and email us about your requirements today! We can possibly help you locate hard to find chemicals.

We are always sourcing new products! One hard to locate item we’ve had success with is NMP, a useful commercial cleaning solvent. #NMP is the abbreviation for N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone. It’s a a solvent used in a variety of industries and applications, such as cleaning and degreasing, paint and coating removal, petrochemical processing, engineering plastics coatings, agricultural chemicals, electronic cleaning and industrial, commercial cleaning.