Material that is available is not always material that can be delivered.
Available is not delivered
On our large commercial jobs, product selection is rarely the biggest challenge. The hard part is to get material to the right place when the site is ready. We have seen production run ahead of a site that was not ready. We have also seen trucks arrive after the crane access moved.
On a data center job of about 165,000 square feet, FlooringInc sent rooftop rubber in multiple truckloads from multiple production facilities. The deliveries followed the phased schedule of the contractor. Several loads went to a nearby warehouse instead of the active site.
List the moving parts
- Production: confirm that production can support each phase date.
- Carrier: book freight for each release, not one date for the whole job.
- Site readiness: confirm that each site has room to receive material that week.
- Unloading: confirm crane or unloading access for each delivery.
- Install progress: move the next release when the crew schedule moves.
Plan two windows per release
Manufacturing lead time and shipping time are not the same thing. Plan each release with a production window and a separate freight window. Then add time for receiving hours, truck access, and weather or carrier delays. Do not schedule installers on the shortest lead time shown online.
Each product page on our site shows the lead time when you select a color and a size. Use that date as the start point of each site plan, not as the install date.
A large commercial order does not always ship from the warehouse that has stock. The routing choice can change production capacity, product consistency, lead time, freight cost, and transit time. Confirm the routing for each release before production starts.
Send the site list and the phase dates. We will plan the releases with you.
Set a weekly rhythm
On a phased job, something changes almost every week. The goal is to share each change fast, before it becomes expensive. On the data center job, a weekly call with the GC team set when and where the next truckload went. Name one contact at each site for every release.