![\"Apex](\"http:\/\/www.apexdynamicsusa.com\/newsfeed\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/still12.jpg\")
<\/a>supply has brought Just-in-time \/ Lean manufacturers to a standstill.<\/p>\n
Electric arc furnaces use the graphite electrodes to convert massive amounts of electricity\u00a0into\u00a0the heat necessary for melting scrap steel to molten phase.\u00a0 Graphite is the only material able to withstand the intense heat\u00a0 required (3000\u00b0C).\u00a0 See this link <\/a>for more information on the process.<\/p>\n The shortage is a result of production capacity going off line, and competition from lithium ion battery manufacturers for the raw material, needle coke.\u00a0 The implementation stricter emissions standards in China has forced the closure of 200,000 mt of electrode capacity and another 200,000 mt of worldwide capacity was shut down due to downward price pressure.\u00a0 With China bringing 56 new arc furnaces on line this year, the demand for graphite electrodes has soared.\u00a0 More info here<\/a>. With over 40 different product series, Apex Dynamics has a plug-and-play replacement for the majority of servo gearbox manufacturers.\u00a0 Our high quality high performance products, industry shaping lead times,\u00a0 highly competitive cost structure, and excellence in support and customer service have made Apex Dynamics the industry benchmark that it is today.<\/p>\n For help right now with a competitive interchange, contact our sales and applications team at 631-244-9040 or by email –\u00a0 sales@apexdynamicsusa.com<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In recent weeks, we have seen competitors lead times grow to astronomical durations.\u00a0 Customers – machine builders and end users – have reported quoted lead times of 16, 18, even 30 weeks! A global steel supply shortage, spurred by a graphite electrode shortage, has tightened supply.\u00a0 The tightened supply has brought Just-in-time \/ Lean manufacturers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.apexdynamicsusa.com\/newsfeed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.apexdynamicsusa.com\/newsfeed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.apexdynamicsusa.com\/newsfeed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.apexdynamicsusa.com\/newsfeed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.apexdynamicsusa.com\/newsfeed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.apexdynamicsusa.com\/newsfeed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138,"href":"http:\/\/www.apexdynamicsusa.com\/newsfeed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133\/revisions\/138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.apexdynamicsusa.com\/newsfeed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.apexdynamicsusa.com\/newsfeed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.apexdynamicsusa.com\/newsfeed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nApex Dynamics has been able to weather the storm and minimize the impact of the steel shortage on all product lead times.\u00a0 Again, the advantages of the tried and true batch \/ manufacture to stock method become apparent.\u00a0 Not only are there the benefits of high availability, quick delivery, and cost reduction from quantities of scale, there is drastically lower sensitivity to\u00a0 raw material supply and cost fluctuations.\u00a0 The con to build to stock manufacturing lies in the up front cost or investment required.\u00a0 Lean manufacturers are not willing to make the investment because the investment will tie up a large amount of liquidity, which will change the valuation of the institution.\u00a0 Tying up money in inventory is especially bad for publicly traded entities.<\/p>\n