‘Rush’ to Move Production Outside China Is Straining Supply Chain, Says CalAmp CEO

Software-as-a-service provider CalAmp took a $4 million hit to its Q3 revenue from supply shortages in the transfer of production to “various Tier 1 global contract manufacturers with facilities outside of China” as a hedge against tariffs, said CEO Michael Burdiek on a Thursday quarterly call. CalAmp is now “slowing somewhat the pace of our supply chain transitions in order to reduce product delivery risks in our production operations,” he said. Amid the “rush” of companies moving production out of China, “the new supply channels have not necessarily been reestablished or optimized,” he said. That “partly explains why we've had some issues around component supply,” he said. Burdiek doubts CalAmp “lost any business” as a result of the supply shortages, but “obviously, it stresses customer relationships when you're not able to fulfill demand against promised dates.”