Would you shorten lead times after the latest Suez routing news?
The September Europe update mentions selected services using Suez again. Would you change customer delivery promises now, or wait for a few completed sailings?
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8 replies
- I'd wait for the actual service carrying your container. A shorter route on a different loop won't help your order, and a booking confirmation still isn't proof that the final inland leg will line up.
- The update describes selected services, so I wouldn't replace the planning assumption for every Asia to Europe shipment. Keep the booked route attached to each purchase order.
- There are two dates worth keeping here: your internal expected arrival and the date you promised the customer. You can improve the first without immediately tightening the second. Say the revised route suggests arrival four days earlier. I'd use those days as breathing room until discharge, clearance and the delivery appointment look solid, especially if the customer has already booked labor against your original promise.
- A few completed sailings sounds sensible, but look at discharge and availability too. A vessel can arrive earlier and the box can still spend those saved days waiting for pickup.
- For repeat stock, I'd let the better transit time show up as extra breathing room initially. For a launch with a fixed date, I'd ask for a written contingency plan before changing anything.
- Small suggestion: save the advisory date with the booking. When someone asks why the original plan had a longer transit time, you can show the information available when you made it.
- I'd also check whether the new arrival falls over a weekend at destination. Saving sea days isn't very useful if the warehouse can't receive the load until Monday.
- The tricky part is the next change. Decide who tells sales if the routing reverts, otherwise an optimistic ETA can sit in a spreadsheet long after operations has moved on.
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