By Wayne A. Endicott
Nothing can foul up a schedule like materials that do not arrive when the contractor needs them. The focus today is on "just-in-time" delivery – getting materials to the job when they are needed. Not before, so that on-site storage becomes a problem. Certainly not late, so the job gets held up.
To make just-in-time delivery work requires a delicate balancing act. Two Chicago area remodelers who seem to have a good handle on what it takes to get materials to a site on time are Kevin Gorsky, who owns the Kevin Gorsky Company in Palatine, Ill., and Dave Kunzweiler, vice president of Cabinets Plus, also of Palatine. The two are friends and have collaborated on many jobs.
Recently, we listened in on a conversation between the two men about preventing delivery problems.
Dave: "You need to err on the side of caution. You can never spend too much time on follow-up. You can't rely on your suppliers to be there for you, even if their past track record is good."
Kevin: "You also can't expect the supplier to read your mind, or expect his rep to stop in exactly when you need his product. It's a good idea to get information from each supplier about his necessary lead times. Sometimes, you need to know other things–like a scheduled plant shutdown that might interrupt the flow of material. It's not unusual for manufacturers to shut down over a holiday for inventorying or routine maintenance. That can sure foul up normal lead times."
Dave: "Most of us are using faxes as a convenient way to send orders. The electronic age is great, but just because your machine tells you that a transmission was completed, don't take it for granted. Demand a written confirmation showing such information as quantity, part number and a shipping date. If you don't get one, assign someone to confirm receipt of your order and the particulars."
Kevin: "It's probably a good idea to check into the availability of computerized ordering from your supplier, but only if you're comfortable with technology. Communicating from computer to computer can reduce lead times and reduce the number of mistakes in keypunch input. The importance of an acknowledgement extends to computer ordering–you have to check on the receipt."
Dave: "Even the best system can be brought to its knees by two dreaded words – 'back order.' It's easy to lose track of items that are out of stock. Isolate that item, find out its projected shipping date and add it to your follow-up system. If it's not critical to your schedule, don't hold up an entire shipment for one part. Have the supplier ship what he has and follow with the back-ordered part. But if that part is critical to the job, you may want to ask the supplier to hold shipment until the entire order is complete. This is a good psychological ploy; a big order may put you at the top of the list when the part becomes available."
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