HARDI’s week 5 survey went out on May 8, 2020 and the following results provide a general pulse for where the industry stands in response to the impacts of COVID-19.
Weekly sales:
- 39% of respondents reported their sales were down less than 20% compared to last week.
- 15% of respondents reported their sales were down 21-50% compared to last week.
- 0% of respondents reported their sales were down more than 50% compared to last week.
- 16% of respondents reported their sales were steady compared to last week.
- 12% of respondents reported their sales increased less than 10% compared to last week.
- 18% of respondents reported their sales increased more than 10% compared to last week.
Weekly employment changes:
- 72% reported no employment changes this week.
- 1% have reduced employee compensation compared to 5% last week.
- 11% have reduced employees hours compared to 6% last week.
- 1% have laid off employees compared to 5% last week.
- 3% have furloughed employees compared to 6% last week.
- 6% have rehired employees compared to 3% last week.
- 9% have hired new employees, which was the same as last week.
Customers:
- 57% of respondents stated that none of their customers have gone out of business. 18% responded that less than 5% of their customers have gone out of business, 1% responded that 20-30% of their customers have gone out of business and 24% claimed it’s too early to tell.
- 62% of respondents have seen no recognizable change to customers paying performance this week. 34% have less than 15% of their customers extending payment schedules compared to 44% last week. About 4% responded that more than 15% of their customers are extending payment schedules.
Suppliers:
- 53% of respondents indicated they have not experienced supply chain disruptions this week while 18% experienced parts disruptions (compared to 15% last week) and 25% experienced equipment disruptions (compared to 14% last week).
- 47% of respondents have heard there will be no expected product shortages from suppliers. 39% expect product shortages, 9% expect prices to increase and 26% do not expect prices to increase.
- 77% have not asked their supplier for extended terms, which compares to 65% last week. 18% have asked their supplier for extended terms and accommodated with no penalty (compared to 23% last week).
Supplier snapshot (22 respondents):
Weekly sales:
- 41% of respondents reported their sales were down less than 20% compared to last week.
- 23% of respondents reported their sales were down 21-50% compared to last week.
- 13% of respondents reported their sales were steady compared to last week.
- 23% of respondents reported their sales increased less than 10% compared to last week.
Weekly employment changes:
- 55% reported no employment changes this week.
- 9% have reduced employee compensation compared to 8% last week.
- 23% have reduced employee hours compared to 10% last week.
- 9% have laid off employees compared to 6% last week.
- 13% have furloughed employees compared to 10% last week.
- 13% rehired new employees compared to 0% last week.
- 9% have hired new employees compared to 8% last week.
Customers:
- 91% of respondents expect no issues meeting orders placed by distributors. 9% expect challenges meeting parts orders (compared to 10% last week) and 0% expect challenges meeting equipment orders (compared to 2% last week).
- 36% of respondents have seen no change to customers paying performance. 59% reported that less than 15% of their customers are asking for extended payment terms (compared to 47% last week) and 5% reported that more than 15% of their customers are asking for extended terms.
Production facilities:
For the first time in 5 weeks of tracking, we had our first week with ZERO production facilities closing as reported by respondents. This echoes a positive trend this week of increased sales and increased confidence in meeting distributor orders.
Optimism index:
In a surprising turn, our Optimism Index fell to 68 from 71 last week. In the three weeks of tracking, average morale is at 69 out of 100.
