How US companies coping with inflation, scarce labour!

Bloomberg

It’s no secret: US businesses are dealing with rising costs, from labor to raw materials to shipping expenses. But many are already starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel as the economy works its way through what may prove to be temporary inflationary pressures.
Take Clorox Co., for example. The Oakland, California-based consumer-products maker’s chief executive officer, Benno Dorer, said on the company’s quarterly earnings conference call that he expects increases in transportation costs to ease to a “mid to high-single-digit” pace from “high double-digit.”
And while many say the rising input costs will mean that prices have to go up, they’re still taking other steps to mitigate the pressures. July data from the Labor Department on producer prices, due on Thursday, and consumer prices on coming Friday will detail the extent of pressures at the start of the third quarter.
Fast-casual burger chain Shake Shack Inc. has begun experimenting with cashless ordering to contain rising labour costs. So far, so good, according to Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti, who said “it’s absolutely one of our goals to decrease the payroll over time.”
“We’ve gotten some of our highest marks from our guest surveys on the experience of the kiosk, even versus our other channels with which you can order. So that’s encouraging, people like it,” Garutti said. “We’re going to do some, in some of our newer markets that have higher labour cost, such as the Bay Area and Seattle, and we’ll test in some of those new markets with the ultimate goal of guest experience, guest experience, guest experience.”
While many expect shipping inflation to moderate following big increases, they’re also
being proactive to keep costs down. Craig Kesler, the chief financial officer of Eagle Materials Inc., a building-materials producer based in Dallas, indicated the company is reducing the distances over which it ships its products.
“Freight rates have gone up in that 10 percent to 12 percent range as we expected, when you’re doing the best that you can, and so you start shrinking your shipping radius in order to offset some of the freight increases,” Kesler said. “You are trying to meet your customer needs to the best that you can, and minimising the freight bill where you can as well. And I think our guys have done a very good job of doing that.”
Many companies are being forced to adjust to rising wages after years of cheap and widely available labour. Wilson Jones, CEO of heavy-vehicle maker Oshkosh Corp., refers to the initiatives his company is taking as “Operation Kitchen Sink.”