5 Proven Strategies for On-Time Parts Delivery

Staying competitive requires shortening delivery time. Manufacturers, contractors, and maintenance teams are under increasing pressure to meet tighter deadlines, requiring fast, reliable, on-time delivery of parts and materials.

No matter what your industry, whether it’s manufacturing, clean energy, or commercial construction, any delays in vital parts or materials add to your overhead and cut into profits. A lack of essential components disrupts your operations, leaving workers idle. Maintaining production and delivery schedules requires strategic planning, including on-time parts delivery. 

On-time delivery enhances the company’s reputation and creates a competitive advantage because when you meet delivery schedules and complete projects on time and within budget, you have more satisfied customers. 

To expedite sourcing and ensure on-time delivery, more organizations are embracing online sourcing tools. Digital sourcing simplifies ordering and parts tracking, and vertical sourcing sites, such as the Bay Supply Marketplace, make it easier to compare vendors and view pricing and parts availability. Vertical marketplaces are designed to expedite parts orders and shipping, promote greater transparency, and enable automated procurement workflows.

Here are five proven parts procurement strategies you should consider to promote on-time parts delivery:

1. Strengthen supplier relationships.

When shopping for parts, supplier reliability is more important than price. Strong supplier relationships help ensure the timely delivery of parts and materials. If you need expedited delivery, having a strong vendor relationship can help move your order to the top of the queue.

Transparency is essential in any supplier relationship. When ordering, you want a comprehensive view of available inventory and orders, including updates and status reports. Using a digital ordering infrastructure offers greater transparency and immediate updates.

Close communication is also essential. It’s best to work with responsive suppliers that offer consistent communications. Be sure you set appropriate expectations with vendors on delivery times, quality, and other factors, and build in some form of performance tracking.

A vertical marketplace has built-in features, such as real-time inventory verification and digital order processing, that strengthen supplier relationships, enhance transparency, and reduce surprises.

2. Consolidate with fewer suppliers.

The more suppliers you have to manage, the greater the potential for delays. Every vendor relationship requires managing an online portal, phone calls, and emails, making it harder to manage your supply chain.

When you centralize your sourcing and use fewer suppliers, you streamline procurement. Using a central parts ordering resource makes it easier to view available inventory, reduces order time, and improves service.

Consolidating sourcing through a single platform, such as an online marketplace, streamlines parts ordering even further. With a marketplace, you have access to thousands of parts from hundreds of vendors in one place. Using a central marketplace also simplifies comparative shopping, making it easy to compare parts, prices, terms, and delivery. 

For example, the Bay Supply Marketplace lists thousands of fasteners and tools from dozens of top brands, unifying ordering and communications in a single platform, including generating purchase orders and tracking orders.

3. Use real-time order tracking and automated alerts.

Automating parts ordering is not only more efficient but also provides greater transparency and helps expedite orders. Having visibility into the status of an order or a back order makes it easier to adjust production schedules and reorder parts. Receiving real-time updates and alerts also helps mitigate delays. Using an online marketplace simplifies order tracking by integrating it across suppliers.

4. Flexible fulfillment options reduce lead times.

Suppliers routinely face challenges, including fulfilling regional orders, managing inventory shortages, and coping with unpredictable logistics. Having flexible fulfillment options can reduce lead times and make parts shipments more predictable:

• Have multiple parts suppliers available to handle orders.

• Buy from regional sellers to reduce logistics concerns.

• Choose vendors with shorter picking, packing, and shipping time frames.

Using a central ordering platform, such as a marketplace, provides access to multiple suppliers from a single location. Having a marketplace catalog lets you compare prices and availability across comparable stock-keeping units, and you can use drop shipping for faster delivery.

5. Use better data to improve forecasting and reordering.

Running short of essential parts is often the result of poor planning. Late parts delivery and stockouts are commonly the result of reactive rather than proactive ordering and underestimating parts consumption. Historical data can improve order accuracy and better predict parts needs, factoring in variables such as seasonal trends. The better your parts performance data, the more accurate your parts inventory planning will be.

Using workflow automation for ordering captures the order history and procurement details. When you join a marketplace, the system maintains a record of transactions, providing the data needed to build more accurate and predictable ordering schedules. When you have a better understanding of parts ordering patterns, you can minimize stockouts and rush orders.

Bonus tip: Join the Bay Supply Marketplace.

On-time parts delivery requires selecting the right supplier, automating ordering processes, maintaining transparency in ordering, and planning proactively. Using a vertical marketplace to consolidate parts ordering helps you stay ahead of stockouts by providing access to multiple, verified suppliers with real-time inventory data. A marketplace automates parts ordering for faster, easier fulfillment and inventory tracking. Digital sourcing tools not only simplify supply chain management but also provide more detailed data for more accurate inventory planning.

If you want to improve your fastener parts ordering, contact the experts at Bay Supply and learn how the Bay Supply Marketplace can transform your supply chain.