A tank of cream and no pumps
The batch of hand cream was made on Monday and passed its checks. Filling is booked for Wednesday. On Tuesday afternoon someone notices the pumps have not arrived. The supplier says they shipped from overseas and are somewhere in transit. The bottles are here, the labels are here, the cartons are here. The cream waits in the vessel or in bulk containers, the filling line switches to something else, and the brand client's launch date slides.
Many small parts, many suppliers
A single product can need a bottle, a pump or cap, sometimes a collar or wiper, a label, an outer carton, a leaflet and a shipper. Each has its own supplier, minimum order and lead time, and some come from overseas.
- Component needs are worked out by hand when a batch is planned.
- Orders are placed by email and tracked in a spreadsheet, if at all.
- Lead times change and nobody updates the plan.
- Deliveries are received without checking against what was ordered, so short deliveries surface at filling.
- Brand-supplied components arrive whenever the client sends them.
What missing components cost
A filling line that switches jobs loses time on changeover and cleaning. Bulk product waiting for packaging uses vessels or containers you need for the next batch, and sits against its hold time if you set one. Rush orders for components cost more. Brand clients see a missed date and do not care that it was a pump. And the person planning production spends their time chasing suppliers.
Over-ordering to be safe brings its own problem: shelves of components for discontinued products and old artwork.
Printed components make it harder still. Labels and cartons carry artwork, so they cannot be borrowed from another product, and a change to an ingredient list or a barcode can make a whole box of them unusable. When those are ordered late, the printer's own queue decides your filling date.
Packaging tracking tied to the plan
- Each product has a packaging bill of materials: every component, quantity per unit and an allowance for line losses that you set.
- When a batch is planned, the system calculates components needed from the expected fill quantity and checks them against stock and open orders.
- Shortfalls are listed with the supplier's usual lead time, and draft purchase orders are prepared for a person to check and send.
- Supplier confirmations and dispatch dates are recorded against each order, and anything late is flagged with the batches it affects.
- At goods in, deliveries are checked against the order, and short or damaged deliveries are flagged straight away.
- Each planned batch shows as ready to fill only when every component is in stock, including anything the brand client is supplying.
| Stage | How it slips now | With tracking |
|---|---|---|
| Working out components | By hand, near the date | Calculated when the batch is planned |
| Ordering | Emails and a spreadsheet | Drafted from shortfalls |
| Late suppliers | Found out at filling | Flagged against affected batches |
| Goods in | Signed for | Checked against the order |
| Ready to fill? | Assumed | Confirmed per component |
A filling schedule you can trust
Batches are only scheduled for filling when their packaging is here or confirmed. A late pump shows up weeks ahead, when you can still find an alternative or warn the client. Short deliveries are caught at goods in. Over time, supplier lead time records make the plan more realistic, and you can see which suppliers cause the most trouble.
Tick any of these?
- Filling has stopped for a missing component.
- Bulk product has waited for packaging.
- Component needs are worked out by hand.
- Short deliveries are found at the filling line.
- You hold lots of components for products you no longer make.