Shipment delays in product development happen. Packages get lost or dropped off at the wrong location. As a result projects can get delayed more than a few extra days while waiting for parts to arrive. Wait time is painfully disruptive. Here's a great idea for mitigating risk around shipping delays.
1 Way to Mitigate Risk in Procurement Delays
So we how do you mitigate risk in procurement delays? Rather than send one package containing all of the parts, why not send two packages, each containing half of the parts? Sure, it would cost a few dollars more, but a lot less than delaying the project.
Debatching Parts into Two Shipments
By debatching the parts, we allow them to move independently. With this approach the odds that a shipping issue would delay the project are significantly reduced. As long as one of the packages arrives, we will be able to move on with the build of the first units. The remaining parts will arrive before we need them to complete the build.
Of course, doing this on every shipment of every part could become expensive and complex. But, if we know which parts are ‘critical path’ or ‘near critical path’, then we know which parts would delay the project if they arrive a few days late. With this knowledge, we can implement this technique in all of the right places.
This is just another example of where Playbook helps save time on a project. When these types of details are easy to see, and we can see their impact, we can find little ways to save more-than-a-little time.
Success!
So, as we enter the Holiday season, when shipping companies are at their busiest and shipping delays are even more likely, consider this debatching technique. If you try it, we’d love to hear how it goes.
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