I am being reminded of this daily that the supply timings of our punching bag production line are slightly off and this is holding us back. This is normal however and is understandable when you start a new business up there s going to be a learning curve. Not knowing the precise order numbers having never done this before leaves a little to the unknown.
This business was kind of thrown at us when we were not ready and the truth is you will never be ready. The outer plastic sleeves were sourced on what was in stock and what would work not on an exact measurement. No one knew how long that first roll would last and I ordered the exact size required 10 days ago and it is only arriving tomorrow. The problem is this is a special order and not a stock item so the minimum order of 500kg's is the order. This order will last us a good 6 months now with the important part is keeping one roll back that when taken will trigger the new order.
Unfortunately this is just one item and the same process has to happen for most of the supplies we require and use. Jut because something is working it doesn't mean it is smooth running and will take another 3-6 months to get to that point. Thankfully I know these things and that this needs to be carefully managed until we know the real numbers.
It may sound ridiculous, but the running out of the outer sleeves by only 12 is holding back an order of over 300 punch bags. This is not always the obvious items and this is where having the attention to detail is a must. This was ordered 10 days ago so it had not run out then and only happened today so this is only one day out if you get technical. Still this should not happen but this is guesswork and not an exact science being so early on.
The textile waste has obviously taken the main focus because without that there is no business and cannot wait for that to arrive sometime later this week. Once that arrives and the next order is immediately placed even though they have specifically asked us to test that material out for 4 days first and then order. 10 tons is only going to last 1 month and need to stockpile this keeping at least 20 tons in stock.
This is all basic common sense yet the stupid things can shut your production down for a week or two if you are not careful. I would rather have a few months of everything required than take this down to the wire because there ae more important things to do than worry about have we got enough. The wages being lost for instance so there is always a cost attached to any shut down. There is no shut down now because work still continues even if orders cannot be processed and delivered. I have been in a situation previously where we shut down for 6 weeks due to a factory fault and there is only so much cleaning one can do.