Explaining the Rush Order Process
A Bustle in your Hedgerow – the Rush Order Dilemma
Ah, rush orders. I love them, you love them – everything thinks they’re great. So soft and fluffy, with just a hint of … wait, I’m thinking about cinnamon blueberry pancakes. Those are very much not rush orders.
Rush orders are typically orders that are requested to be finished and delivered at a rate that is much shorter than the standard we allot for such items. Imagine a harried-looking man running through a set of pivoting double doors, fists full of papers, shouting “IT’S A RUSH ORDER!” followed by a factory floor that explodes into a cacophony of panic and mayhem. While not entirely accurate, it does illustrate how the rush order operates in tandem with standard production; it doesn’t.
Fabrication processes are such that dropping orders onto the floor cause disruptions through the entirety of production. While it can be done, Celina Tent prefers not to take on rush orders because of the possibility of failure; that’s not the type of service we want to offer to our customers. Under extraneous circumstances we will admit rush orders, majorly dependent on current production rates.
Butting in Line
Most often, rush orders are not something that are easily inserted into running processes. The factory floor is set up so that product can flow easily from one step to the next, with workers accompanying the product through multiple stages. Because of the multi-stage processes of manufacturing, it’s hard to remove a set already in progress when a rush order comes through:
- The current item has to be put aside, marked with what still needs to be done. This requires floor space to hold the item until the rush order is completed.
- Rush order materials need to be picked and runners need to supply all stations with the hardware they need. This can normally be done a day or two in advance but there isn’t time for prep when assembling a rush order.
- Once the item is put into production marked as a rush order, special care is taken to time each stage to interrupt the fewest amount of running processes.
Speedy as Speed Can Be
While we are aware that some people are okay with this amount of disruption, there is no way to increase the basic amount of time require to fabricate the product under the best conditions. We can’t make machines work faster than their best, making some rush requests simply not feasible from a basic manufacturing stand point. A product that requires two days of production cannot be made in one. As we consider an order for a rush, we will take this base manufacturing time into account to make sure we plan accordingly and give you the most accurate amount of time we can commit to.
Endeavoring to keep all processes running smoothly is what lets Celina Tent maintain the fastest production for our customers. While we are able to accommodate some rush orders, please take into consideration that some time frames are simply too short for certain items, and that offered rush rates are the fastest we are able to provide.
Need more info? Give one of our Customer Account Managers a call at (866) 783-4083 and they will be able to give you current rush rates and answer any questions about the process that you may have. For general questions, feel free to email us at sales@gettent.com and we’ll get back to you in no time!