GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Supply chain issues are ongoing across the U.S. and the world. For some, it’s a grave problem.
A backlog of orders, crowded ports and trucker shortages have led to a holdup in getting granite for monuments and headstones. This means grieving families are having to wait longer for the headstones of their loved ones.
For one Michigan family still waiting, it will mean everything to finally get their tribute in place.
In December of 2019, Barbara Locher of Waterford, Michigan passed away.
She’s was laid to rest with her husband Robert Sr. many months ago but her family is still waiting for the custom gravestone they ordered from Grand Rapids-based Patten Monument.
“It's taking a long time, which is, you know, I understand that they're doing their best, I can't expect them to perform miracles," Robert Locher, Barbara's son, said.
The black granite for the piece is coming all the way from India.
“We don't have a timeline yet. But they're looking at maybe at the end of May, beginning of June, it'll be in and then they'll process the stone, and then get it out to the cemetery so I can have it installed," Locher said.
Patten Monument has granite suppliers in Georgia and Vermont, plus China and India.
Typically, if the desired granite is in stock, it only takes a matter of weeks to produce a gravestone.
“After we get the stock here, typically, if it's approved and ready to go, we can run it through our facility in two weeks. So two weeks to get it produced. And then it usually takes two to four weeks to get it delivered," Rob Geers, CFO of Patten Monument, said.
However, with backed-up ports and not enough truckers to drive the granite across the country, lead times for granite from domestic suppliers are now taking up to six months to arrive and up to a year from overseas.
“You know, freight is the big issue with the overseas stuff. You know, we can't get to containers over there fast enough to get it here back fast enough. So they have the stock ready and produced it's done. It's just can't get here," Geers said.
This means some customers like the Locher family continue to wait.
“We have nothing for my mother indicating that she's there right now. So, there's you know you can go up to spot on the hill and there's nothing there just you know, grass. There's no marker identifying her there with my dad. To me and my family, it's just it's everything to us. So we have a place we can go mourn," Locher said.
And while it’s disappointing, Locher says he recognizes supply chain issues are impacting almost every industry and he encourages others to have patience.
“Don't have high expectations on fast delivery on anything. Because it's, you know, just the way of the world now," Locher said.
Business owners say they are slowly starting to see an improvement from domestic suppliers while international supply is still up in the air, and it could take several more months before things return to normal.
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