We have had a few first time customers complain about how their orders were delayed and either didn’t get to them on time or didn’t get them at all. While we understand that these things sometimes happen in business, it is however essential to understand how to control the situation and avoid it. In this week’s blog post we have highlighted few ways in which you can prevent these delays.
Let’s get right into it!
First, why do delays happen?
There are several reasons why Chinese suppliers might delay deliveries, including issues with factories, raw material subcontractors, customs, and freight forwarders. However, most causes of delays are usually caused by the factories themselves. Let’s look into some of these causes.
- If The Order Quantity is Too Small:
Sometimes, if the factory do not have an order for the same product as yours, the factory will put your order on hold and wait until there is an order for the similar product before arranging production. Upon negotiation with you, the supplier may make promises to secure your order, but once they have it, the factory might prioritize other orders to save production costs.
Also, if the factory doesn’t have enough orders for the same product as yours, they might delay production until they have similar orders to fulfill, after which, they group them together to streamline production.
2. When You Place Your Orders Before, During and After Holiday Seasons
During Chinese Holiday seasons, factories get really busy in production. These periods see a lot of requests on the factories from buyers who want to stock up leaving these factories with a limited production rate because of limited workers during the period, or limited machine capacity, and this inadvertently causes a delay in delivery time.
3. Poor Negotiations between the Trading Companies and the Factories
Sometimes, it’s not the factory producing your order, but a trading company. They buy from factories and sell to you. Poor communication in design and taste from their end on your behalf can result in poor quality control and a delay in production. It is essential that you do your due diligence to ensure that you go through the manufacturers directly and even if you do trade with Trading companies, ensure that they translate accurate order requests to the manufacturers.
4. Custom’s Clearance Delays:
When your package gets held up at customs, it means they’re taking longer than usual to check it, which can make your delivery late. Customs is a government agency that checks taxes and fees on goods coming in or going out of a country. This process starts where the goods are sent from and ends where they’re going.
Some goods can’t be sent because of local laws. Before you ship anything, make sure that product is allowed in the product destination.
Now that we have established some cause of product delays and delivery, let’s look at ways you can prevent it.
- Check Your Supplier
Before you make that order, ensure that you procure the services of a reliable supplier. Reliable suppliers can help make the process easier and without delays.
2. Always Keep an Eye on Production
Once you’ve ordered, always stay in touch with the supplier or factory to keep in touch with the production processes. Make sure to ask questions like when to expect delivery and also ask for pictures and videos of the production processes. This will also help you understand production processes and will give you insights into the procedures and requirements for production and delivery.
3. Plan for Effective Logistics:
When you’re planning your orders, think about how long it will take for your products to arrive. Remember to consider any delays during shipping. And if something unexpected happens, be ready to change your plans to deal with it.
4. Be Familiar with shipping Rules And Import Restrictions:
Many people sending packages don’t bother to learn about the customs rules of the country they’re sending to. If customs checks your package, it could be delayed for days or even a week. Sometimes, it might not even be allowed into the country, or it might be sent back to you. This can cost you a lot of money.
5. Work with a Reliable China Sourcing Agency:
It is best practice to work with a reliable Chinese sourcing agency to help evaluate supplier strength and credibility and handle these processes for you before placing an order. You can only understand the supplier through communication based on your own experience, which is always risky. Having a sourcing agent do the physical work for you is best.
If you are looking for a reliable procurement agent in China, we are here to ensure you get the best importation experience void of delays.
In summary, by choosing reliable suppliers, keeping an eye on production, obeying customs rules, doing your due diligence, and employing the services of a trusted procurement agency, you can avoid most delays.
Until next time, Keep winning.
