Manufacturers of all types of casino industry supplies have been dealing with supply chain issues since the Covid-19 pandemic hit, and for many parts of the industry, problems with shortages of material continue, according to a report in the Nevada Independent.
“We have learned from operators that some orders are taking over 10-plus months and counting to be fulfilled,” Truist Securities gaming analyst Barry Jonas wrote in a post-G2E research note quoted by the Independent. “Manufacturers have gotten smarter with sourcing and re-engineering, but we don’t think they are out of the woods just yet, with new challenges still appearing. While shipping prices have come down, the availability of truck drivers is an issue today.”
An example cited by the online newsletter is TransAct Technologies, which supplies ticket printers to casinos. TransAct CEO Brad Shulman told the publication it is having problems with the supply of the specialized paper used for ticket-in/ticket-out vouchers.
“We were able to navigate around the issue with our products, finding different parts that could substitute if parts were out of stock or delayed,” Shuldman said. “But when you have just one supplier of paper, it’s troubling.”
The paper shortage is the latest in supply chain issues going back to two years ago, with suppliers running short of microchips, bill acceptors, monitors and other slot machine components.
