Denmark has no passport delays. But then the Danish supplier also spends 5 days on passport production, while the Norwegian spends 24.
Less than 10 minutes ago
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Thales, which produces the Norwegian passports, has repeatedly pointed out global shortage of raw materials as the reason for the major passport delays this year.
And they will not reduce production time in July anyway, as they had hoped. Stock solutions are now being discussed to prevent this from happening again.
- Norway: On Monday, there were 83,000 passport applications in line. If you order today, the expected delivery time is six weeks. According to the police, the production time at the supplier Thales is now 24 days, up from 5 days.
- At the same time in Denmark: No delivery problems or delays, Danish police confirmed to VG on Thursday. The Danish passport manufacturer Idpeople have said they do not have a shortage of raw materials and that the production time with them is a maximum of five days.
– Do you have any idea why there is such a big difference?
– We have challenged Thales on this with deliveries of the components. It is difficult to compare directly between different countries and actors, because different materials and suppliers are used, so we do not have a good overview of the details, says department director Bjørn Vandvik in the Police Directorate.
Did not think about securing raw materials in advance
In the autumn of last year, the Norwegian police saw that a record number of passports had expired – and expected a large increase in demand this spring.
Idpeople, which produces the Danish passport in collaboration with German Veridos, they say has secured the components they need to produce the Danish passport. And that the increased demand for the pandemic was “simple math”.
– Why there is really such a big difference between Idpeople and Thales, I can not really answer, says Vandvik to VG.
– But you have asked yourself – and Thales – that question?
– Yes, is the answer.
According to Vandvik, whether the Thales had enough goods in stock was not a question before.
– The agreement with Thales regulates that they must deliver passports of the right quality at the right time. And we have not set detailed requirements for how they will solve it, including the use of stock, says Vandvik in the Police Directorate.
– What we have done is to raise it with Thales now, about possible use of stock and other measures to avoid future challenges. But we did not think about this in advance, this with stock, from our side, says the Norwegian police chief.
Thales out to compare passport project
When asked why they have not been able to avoid delays like the Danish supplier, Thales answers:
– We can not compare different countries’ delivery delays because the volume of demand and the passport types are different. Therefore, we would encourage more caution when comparing passport projects, as this can create shortcuts that underestimate the overall complexity of each project, writes communications consultant Vanessa Viala in Thales in an email.
They point out that Every pass is different – and the challenges are different. On Wednesday, Norwegian passports that were ordered on 13 May this year were completed.
– It is important to note that while computer chips can be used for different customers, most other components are specific to each customer, says Thales.
–No improvement expected in the future
At the end of March, according to Vandvik, Thales said that they “thought deliveries would pick up a bit in July and August.
In a report, the Police Directorate writes that no particular improvement in the delivery situation can be expected from Thales in July anyway, “as we were previously predicted”.
The expectation is therefore that it will still take six weeks to obtain a passport in the time ahead. And that you can only return to normal in October / November.
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