What counts as a "reasonable" delay before I should follow up?

If the part didn't arrive on the promise date and you have no advance ship notice, follow up the same day. Don't wait 24 hours hoping an email or tracking update appears. If the delivery is on your production critical path, every day of delay costs real money. If it's not on critical path, you still need to know whether you're looking at a one-day slip or a two-week one. Your follow-up takes five minutes. Waiting costs recovery time you cannot get back.

Should I charge back the supplier for expedite costs?

It depends on your purchase agreement and the relationship. Most agreements allow chargebacks when the supplier is at fault and you have documentation: the original commit date, the miss, and your actual out-of-pocket expedite cost. In practice, enforcing chargebacks on strategic suppliers often damages the relationship more than the amount recovered is worth. A more effective approach: use the chargeback clause as leverage to get a firm new date and a concession on a future order rather than pursuing an invoice. Keep the documentation either way. It strengthens your position in both scenarios.

When does a single late delivery mean I should switch suppliers?

One late delivery rarely justifies a switch on its own. Look at the pattern first: is this supplier consistently late across multiple POs, or is this the first incident in 18 months? Also consider how they handled it. A supplier who proactively contacted you before the due date with a real explanation is different from one who went silent and gave vague answers after two follow-ups. Check your alternatives before deciding. If there's no qualified backup on your vendor list, exiting a difficult supplier relationship can leave you in a worse position. Document the incident regardless. A second occurrence on a non-strategic part is typically enough reason to dual-source.

Do I need to formally update the PO acknowledgment with the new date?

Yes, if your process or ERP requires it. An email confirmation of a new ship date is a real commitment, but it is not a formal PO amendment. For parts on critical path, request a written acknowledgment of the new date in email and update your ERP with the revised expected date. If the ERP still shows the original date, your planning reports show a delivery that already failed, which creates confusion downstream. Keep the paper trail: original commit date, the miss, your follow-up, and the new commit date all documented.

How do I document the delay so production has a paper trail?

Forward the key emails to a shared folder or add a note in the ERP immediately after each conversation. The record should include the original promised date from the PO acknowledgment, when you first identified the miss, when you followed up and what response you got, and the decision you made (expedite, partial, or new date). Keep the original acknowledgment email. If a customer dispute comes up later, the timestamps showing when you escalated matter more than the summary you write after the fact. Most teams document only after the problem resolves, which means they lose the entries that prove timely action.

What counts as a "reasonable" delay before I should follow up?

If the part didn't arrive on the promise date and you have no advance ship notice, follow up the same day. Don't wait 24 hours hoping an email or tracking update appears. If the delivery is on your production critical path, every day of delay costs real money. If it's not on critical path, you still need to know whether you're looking at a one-day slip or a two-week one. Your follow-up takes five minutes. Waiting costs recovery time you cannot get back.

Should I charge back the supplier for expedite costs?

It depends on your purchase agreement and the relationship. Most agreements allow chargebacks when the supplier is at fault and you have documentation: the original commit date, the miss, and your actual out-of-pocket expedite cost. In practice, enforcing chargebacks on strategic suppliers often damages the relationship more than the amount recovered is worth. A more effective approach: use the chargeback clause as leverage to get a firm new date and a concession on a future order rather than pursuing an invoice. Keep the documentation either way. It strengthens your position in both scenarios.

When does a single late delivery mean I should switch suppliers?

One late delivery rarely justifies a switch on its own. Look at the pattern first: is this supplier consistently late across multiple POs, or is this the first incident in 18 months? Also consider how they handled it. A supplier who proactively contacted you before the due date with a real explanation is different from one who went silent and gave vague answers after two follow-ups. Check your alternatives before deciding. If there's no qualified backup on your vendor list, exiting a difficult supplier relationship can leave you in a worse position. Document the incident regardless. A second occurrence on a non-strategic part is typically enough reason to dual-source.

Do I need to formally update the PO acknowledgment with the new date?

Yes, if your process or ERP requires it. An email confirmation of a new ship date is a real commitment, but it is not a formal PO amendment. For parts on critical path, request a written acknowledgment of the new date in email and update your ERP with the revised expected date. If the ERP still shows the original date, your planning reports show a delivery that already failed, which creates confusion downstream. Keep the paper trail: original commit date, the miss, your follow-up, and the new commit date all documented.

How do I document the delay so production has a paper trail?

Forward the key emails to a shared folder or add a note in the ERP immediately after each conversation. The record should include the original promised date from the PO acknowledgment, when you first identified the miss, when you followed up and what response you got, and the decision you made (expedite, partial, or new date). Keep the original acknowledgment email. If a customer dispute comes up later, the timestamps showing when you escalated matter more than the summary you write after the fact. Most teams document only after the problem resolves, which means they lose the entries that prove timely action.

PLAYBOOK

Late Delivery From a Supplier? Here's What to Do

“The delivery was due yesterday. Nothing in receiving, nothing from the supplier. I don't even know if it shipped.”

Your delivery didn't show up. The supplier committed to a date, you planned production around it, and now the due date has passed with no receipt in the ERP and no message from the supplier. Late deliveries are one of the most common situations in production buying and one of the most expensive to mishandle. How you respond in the first 24 hours usually determines whether you recover the schedule.

What this looks like

It's Tuesday morning. You're expecting a delivery on PO 8847 for the machined aluminum bracket that feeds the assembly line starting Thursday. Six-week lead time, placed on time. The ERP still shows the line open, receiving has nothing, and there's no advance ship notice or tracking number in your inbox. Just silence.

There are three possibilities and you don't know which one yet: the carrier has the shipment and it's delayed in transit, the supplier shipped late without sending a notice, or the supplier hasn't shipped at all and is hoping you won't notice until they have a new date ready. The distinction matters. A buyer who escalates to a supplier whose shipment is sitting at a carrier terminal damages the relationship for nothing. A buyer who waits three days before following up on a genuine no-ship loses three days of recovery time.

Before any contact with the supplier, run the diagnostic. Check for a waybill number in any supplier email and look up the tracking. Check the supplier portal if they use one. Pull the original PO acknowledgment and confirm the promise date. If the acknowledgment shows February 18 but your ERP shows February 22, you may have a data entry gap, not a supplier failure. Know what you're dealing with before you pick up the phone.

Why it matters

The cost isn't just the part. On a production line with a $10,000-per-hour idle cost, a two-day delay runs $80,000 before anyone sends the first email. Even on lower-cost lines, air-freight expediting can add $3,000 to $40,000 depending on part weight and origin, and that freight charge typically lands on your budget.

Late deliveries on critical path components create downstream dominoes. The machined bracket doesn't arrive, the sub-assembly can't start, the final assembly slips, and the customer call happens. The longer you take to identify and communicate the problem, the fewer recovery options you have and the more of that chain gets disrupted.

There's also an internal consequence most buyers underestimate: production planning, the line lead, and your manager all find out at different times and from different sources. If you're not communicating proactively, you become the information bottleneck at exactly the moment everyone needs answers.

What to do, step by step

Step 1: Confirm what actually happened before contacting the supplier. Check tracking, check the portal, confirm the promise date from the PO acknowledgment. This takes ten minutes and changes the entire tone of the conversation.

Step 2: Send a specific first follow-up. Not a vague check-in, but a factual email with the PO number, the original promise date, what you've already verified, what you need, and by when. Give the supplier a concrete deadline to respond.

Initial follow-up template: "[SUPPLIER NAME], PO [NUMBER] for [PART DESCRIPTION] was due [ORIGINAL DATE]. I've checked [carrier tracking / your portal] and there is no shipment record. Please confirm current ship status or, if it hasn't shipped, provide a firm commit date. I need this by [TIME TODAY] to assess production impact. [YOUR NAME]"

"As soon as possible" is not a delivery date. If the supplier responds with "we're working on it," reply the same day: "I need a specific ship date, not ASAP. What day does it leave your facility?"

Step 3: Once you have a response, you're making a real decision between three options. Expediting means paying premium freight to recover time: run the math on freight cost versus line-down cost per day. A $15,000 expedite that saves five days at $10,000 per day is obvious. A $20,000 expedite that saves two days at $2,000 per day is not. Accepting a partial shipment works when the supplier has some quantity ready and more to follow. Get a firm commit date on the balance before agreeing, or you're opening a second untracked task with no resolution date. Accepting a new full date means absorbing the delay and adjusting production around it. Tell production exactly when to expect the parts before the floor starts asking.

Step 4: Communicate internally before anyone has to ask you. The production planner needs to know whether the line is at risk and what the new ETA is. The line lead needs to know whether to reallocate Thursday resources or hold. Your manager needs to know if there is a customer-facing schedule impact. Two sentences is enough: "PO 8847 for brackets is delayed approximately three days. Expediting freight, new ETA is Monday. I'll confirm once the supplier ships." Send it before the floor calls.

If you don't get a real answer from your first follow-up within 48 hours, escalate to the supplier's account manager. Vague responses count as no response. A second missed promise date from the same PO is an automatic trigger. The escalation should copy your original contact and state the facts plainly.

Day 3 escalation template (to account manager): "[ACCOUNT MANAGER NAME], I'm following up on PO [NUMBER] for [PART DESCRIPTION], originally due [DATE]. I contacted [YOUR CONTACT] on [DATE] and again on [DATE] without receiving a firm ship date. Production is affected starting [DATE]. Please confirm a commit date by end of business today. Copying [YOUR CONTACT] for visibility. [YOUR NAME]"

Internal update template (to your production planner): "[PLANNER NAME], PO [NUMBER] for [PART DESCRIPTION] is delayed. Supplier has not provided a firm ship date as of today. I've escalated to their account manager and expect a response by [DATE/TIME]. Best-case new ETA is [ESTIMATED DATE]. I'll send an update as soon as I have a confirmed ship date. [YOUR NAME]"

How PO-Relay handles this

When a delivery passes its promise date without a receipt or advance ship notice, PO-Relay's Email Intelligence has already been watching. The assistant monitors incoming supplier emails for shipment notices and delivery confirmations. If none has arrived for a PO that is now past due, the loop stays open and gets flagged automatically.

The Parts Dashboard surfaces the overdue delivery as "at risk" the moment the promise date is missed. The row is flagged and sorted to the top by urgency. You see it without running a report or scanning the ERP.

Auto Follow-Ups drafts the first chase email the moment the flag is raised. The draft includes the PO number, line item, original promise date, prior communication history, and a response deadline. You review, adjust anything that needs it, and send from your own inbox. The assistant never sends on your behalf.

If the loop is still open the next morning, the Morning Report surfaces it again in your daily briefing. It will not slip through because of a busy afternoon or a crowded inbox. It stays flagged until the supplier responds or you manually close it. You review and approve every draft before anything goes out.

See it in action

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Common mistakes to avoid

Accepting "as soon as possible" as a delivery commitment. Push back in the same message: "I need a specific ship date. What day does it leave your facility?" Without a date, you have nothing to plan around and no baseline to measure the next slip against.
Not pulling the original PO acknowledgment before you follow up. If the supplier committed to February 18 and your ERP shows February 22, the "late delivery" may be a data entry gap. Know the original promise date before any conversation starts.
Escalating to the account manager before exhausting the standard cycle. Your first follow-up goes to your day-to-day contact. Jumping above their head before 48 hours marks you as the difficult customer and rarely accelerates the response.
Waiting until you have a final answer before telling production. Planning needs lead time to adjust schedules and reallocate resources. A two-sentence heads-up when you identify the problem gives them options. Waiting until the last minute leaves them none.

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