Can first order delivery be pulled from 95 days to 80?

Answer: About 5 days. Overlapping sampling with the base saves 10 and overlapping tooling with sampling 11, so the rest is physical tool and trial time. Calling 95 days 80 means changing structure or skipping approval.

Why does a tool with slides need 40 days?

Answer: Slide seats are hand fitted, 3 days per pair and 6 for two, plus the travel trial and chip clearing, so the 15 days do not compress.

What if sampling runs past 3 rounds?

Answer: From round 4 each costs 7 days added to the 95. A better route turns round 4 into an insert change on an existing sample, delivering in 3 days and saving 4.

300 units take a day, so why book 2?

Answer: At a 90 s cycle they run in 7.5 hours, but 4 hours of mould change, 2 of drying and 3 of set-up hold the machine, and an 80 unit sample needs parts.

Who owns a receiving gap above 0.5%?

Answer: Trace the leg. A packing list that disagrees points to dispatch, a count that comes short points to loading, a damaged carton points to the carrier. One form closes it inside 48 hours.

First Order Delivery Milestones

Quick answer: First order delivery takes 95 days against 62 for a repeat run, and the 33 day gap sits in three gates: sampling, tooling and first article approval.

Why First Order Delivery Runs 33 Days Longer
Sampling to First Article Approval
Tooling at 25 Days, 40 With Slides
The Run: 90 s Cycle and 320 a Day
Booking Cut-off to a 0.5% Count Gap
FAQ

1. Why First Order Delivery Runs 33 Days Longer

A repeat order runs on a settled calendar: 3 days to confirm, 7 for material, 2 to mould, 2 to inspect, 5 to the cut-off, 28 at sea and 15 to clear and warehouse. That is 62 days. First order delivery adds three gates in front of it, sampling, tooling and first article approval, for 95.

The 33 days are not three blocks added end to end. Sampling, 3 rounds of 7 days, overlaps the 10 days of confirmation and material a repeat needs anyway, netting 11. Tooling's first 11 days go to base, roughing and electrodes while sampling rounds 2 and 3 run, netting 14. T1 trial moulding and first article approval, 5 and 3, cannot start earlier, so all 8 are new. Eleven, 14 and 8 make 33.

Stage	Days first/repeat	Document
Confirmation and material	10 / 10	Purchase order
Sampling, 3 rounds	21 / 0, 11 net	Approval sheet
Tooling	25 / 0, 14 net	Mould form
T1 trial and first article	8 / 0	Approval sheet
Run and inspection	4 / 4	Inspection report
Cut-off, sea, arrival	48 / 48	Bill of lading
Total	95 / 62	Eight documents

The tooling rows add to 33, a third of the schedule; shortening first order delivery means moving the parallel parts.

2. Sampling to First Article Approval

Sampling is capped at 3 rounds of 7 days, each with 4 days of courier transit and 3 of review. Round 1 checks outer form and parting line, round 2 insert cavities and latches, round 3 colour and finish. A round still shifting structure means the drawing is not fixed, so 3 change items per round is the rule.

First order delivery depends on stored moulds: blue racks frame a walkway, steel mould bases sit on the floor beneath a red hoist

The sample approval sheet is the first milestone in first order delivery: photographs, a measured dimension table and two signatures. Without measurements the 21 days buy nothing.

First article approval at 3 days runs from the T1 part arriving to the signed sheet returning; the customer measures 5 critical dimensions and fits once. While it is out the machine waits, and that wait lands on the delivery date.

3. Tooling at 25 Days, 40 With Slides

A mould base takes 25 days from order to arrival with no slides. Side recesses or a handle pocket that strips sideways need slides, and the schedule becomes 40 days; the extra 15 go into machining and hand fitting the seats. One question decides: does the parting line release in a single opening?

Slides also make the first trial twice, for travel then dimensions, with 1 day of chip clearing inside the 5 days of T1.

Five stops, each with a written test and a named owner:

Hold-up	Test applied	Owner
Round 3 still changing structure	Same feature changed 3 rounds	Customer engineering
Tooling past 25 days	Slide seats take 15 extra days	Tool room
T1 part out of spec	5 critical dimensions out	Tool room and moulding
First article past 3 days	Sheet unsigned	Customer quality
Run below 320 a day	Cycle slower than 90 s	Moulding floor

The first two account for six tenths of first order delays and both are front-end failures; the rest can be recovered.

4. The Run: 90 s Cycle and 320 a Day

The minimum order for first order delivery is 300 units, which at a 90 s cycle take 7.5 hours. The 2 days come from 4 hours of mould change, 2 of drying, 3 of set-up, and first-off checks.

First order delivery staging floor: mould plates labelled as lids stand upright, cartons stack on a pallet and a worker sits at a bench

The 320 a day figure is the cycle times 8 hours less 15% downtime, so 300 units book 1 day and 1,200 book 4.

Inspection draws 80 units, over a fifth of the batch, checked within 4 hours for latch force, the handle joint and the shut line. One latch that will not close returns the batch, 2 cosmetic scratches force re-inspection, and a rework costs 1 day. That is why first order delivery keeps 1 day of buffer outside the 95.

5. Booking Cut-off to a 0.5% Count Gap

The 5 day cut-off is the carrier's document deadline, not the loading date: the inspection report is due 2 days before it, customs papers 3. Sea freight takes 28 days, then 9 of customs, 3 of warehousing and 3 of buffer.

First order vs repeat	Where the gap sits	Room to compress
95 days	11 sampling, 14 tooling, 8 trial and approval	3 days, by overlapping sampling with the base
62 days	No front-end gate	2 days, by ordering material early
33 days	Net addition of the three gates	5 days at most

The receiving count stays within 0.5%, allowing 1 unit on 300 and 6 on 1,200; gaps come from short loading, not damage, and are reported the same shift.

Above 0.5%, check documents, then carton numbers, then loading photographs; if none reconciles, ship the shortfall with the next sea batch and settle on the verified difference.

Conclusion

The 95 days of first order delivery are not 62 plus three blocks; they are a parallel schedule where sampling yields 10 days and tooling 11, leaving 33. Each gate carries one document, and a missing one stops the 90 s cycle. Split the 33 into 11, 14 and 8 and it is clear which part can move.