Identity Group, a full-service signage company for the world’s largest brands, has been working to maintain its product and service costs in the current global economy of spiking inflation, record material costs, and high fuel prices.

As of June 2022, the company is adding a manufacturing surcharge of 12% for visual decor, commercial signage, hospitality signage, and decals at checkout. The surcharge is separate from customers’ base sign prices and is intended to both offset and bundle the fluctuating costs of materials, labor, and freight volatility in the signage industry.

“We are doing everything we can to hold prices as close to historic levels as possible,” Identity Group told its global customer base in a previous statement.

Last year, the company began incorporating cost-cutting measures such as value engineering and process improvements to absorb rising costs in the manufacturing process. But, in the last year alone, costs for signage materials – especially plastics and resins – far exceeded Identity Group’s savings efforts due to inflation pressures not experienced by the company in the last 40 years.

In just six months, the following inputs have experienced these cost changes: 23.6% for plastics and resins, 15.6% for paint, 14.1% for packaging, 15.8% for freight, 22.3% for manufacturing labor, and 31.7% for utilities.

To add to the ripple effect, the global economy has been hemorrhaging from supply chain issues, including shipping delays for materials and finished goods alike.

Reference: FRED Economic Data “Producer Price Index by Industry: Plastics and Resins Manufacturing” chart

According to an article by the The New York Times, West Coast ports like Los Angeles are so congested that they’ve created zones where ships float freely as they await available docking. At the start of 2022, CNBC reported more than 70 waiting container ships at the Port of Los Angeles, with 62,000 empty shipping containers at the terminal.

Shipping containers themselves are even in low-supply and high-demand. This alone has led to outrageous container costs, which translates to empty and idle containers – containers that are not hauling goods. For example, there are piles of empty containers in Australia and New Zealand, and containers are scarce at India’s Kolkata port.

Reference: FRED Economic Data “US Regular All Formulations Gas Prices”

Then, once goods are on-the-ground and ready to be transported to their final destination, there is the problem of fuel prices – and more delays. The U.S. national average for gas, from 2020 to 2022, has seen its sharpest increase in its history, including a difference of 44% from last year.

For more information about Identity Group’s order minimums and surcharge, visit https://www.identitygroup.com/resources/faqs/.  

For 67 years, Identity Group has been the market leader creating and manufacturing architectural interior signage, including for iconic brands like NFL, Marriott, Macy’s, and more. Producing more than 20 million signs to date, Identity Group provides businesses with creative design services, wayfinding, ADA consultation, visual décor, and more.