Case studey | What can you do if the delivery time is tight?

Customer Kevin purchased 15,000 data cables from Chinese suppliers, 7,000 white, 4,000 black, and 4,000 silver. Originally, the agreed delivery time was 30 days, and then Kevin reserved 5 days for booking.

On the 22nd day, the customer suddenly received an emergency notification from the company that this batch of goods must arrive at Kevin’s warehouse within 15 days. Otherwise, the product will be out of stock. Shipping from Shenzhen to Japan takes about 5-7 days, and 2 days are required for customs clearance and delivery. Now that the goods have to be received within 15 days, it means that Kevin must arrange for the goods to be shipped from Shenzhen within 6 days.

Kevin immediately asked the supplier about the production progress, and the supplier replied that the products were all finished and waited for packaging. It usually takes 5 days to pack these 15,000 data cables, and it takes 4 days at the earliest to complete. The supplier originally intended to start packaging on the 5th day before delivery.

Then Kevin contacted the freight forwarder to check the fastest sailing schedule, and the results showed that the nearest sailing was to sail in 5 days, but the cut-off date was in the morning of the fourth day, and the next sailing schedule was to sail in 7 days. Kevin must catch the latest sailing schedule; otherwise, he will not receive the goods within the specified time. This means that the supplier must complete the packaging of 15,000 data lines within 3 days. The matter was urgent, and Kevin approached his old friend JustChinait to help him follow up on the factory’s progress and ensure that the factory completes the packaging on time. Kevin has booked the space, and he will suffer a heavy loss if the supplier fails to meet the delivery deadline.

After JustChinait received Kevin’s news, he immediately sent two buyers to the supplier’s factory to follow up. The buyer first broke down the packaging steps. The data cable is packaged in blister card paper, and the double blister package refers to a packaging form that uses two blister shells to encapsulate the paper card and the product. First, workers need to put the jammed paper and data cables into the blister. Then put the assembled blister on the blister machine, press the blister machine’s switch, and fuse the edges of the two blister shells before and after the product by heating. Such a product is packaged.

Usually, the factory can blister 3000 products per day, and it can blister about 375 products per hour. To blister 15,000 products within 3 days, it means that the factory needs to blister at least 5,000 products every day. However, the factory’s blister machine is limited, even if more manpower is added, it is useless. Only by extending the use time of the blister machine can the packaging be completed in advance.

In order to ensure timely delivery on the morning of the 4th day, JustChinait could only negotiate with the factory to require the factory to work overtime. 5000/375≈13.5, which means that the factory must work overtime for 5.5 hours a day. Then JustChinait asked the customer which color data line demand is most urgent, and the factory will arrange the packaging according to the customer’s priority for the product. Customers are most anxious about the silver demand, so the factory first arranges the silver data cable packaging to prevent accidents from not completing the packaging of all products so that the most urgent needs of customers can be met.

Two buyers from Justchinait have been assisting in the factory for these three days, and finally finished the product packaging at 10 pm on the third day. On the morning of the fourth day, Kevin’s forwarder came to pick up the goods on time.

When customers have special needs, suppliers always say they can’t do it. But it can actually be done, but the supplier does not want to harm their own interests. If you have a Chinese friend to help you evaluate things’ feasibility, your purchasing work will be more convenient.

All many companies purchasing from China have their own purchasing teams and regular customers who often cooperate. If you encounter such problems, please contact us. We are happy to solve it for you.