A quoted lead time rarely starts when you send the purchase order. It starts when the deposit lands, the drawing is approved and the material is scheduled. Tooling, sample rounds, colour matching, your own approval time, inspection and container booking all sit outside the number.
Quick answer
- Tooling, samples, colour approval, your response time, inspection and booking are usually outside the quoted number.
- Four lead times exist — tooling, sampling, mass production, transit. Ask for all four separately.
- Lead time is a range. A delivery date is a commitment. Only the second one belongs on a launch plan.
Which four lead times exist, and which of them does a quote leave out?
Almost every supplier quote carries one number, and that number describes one segment only: the run on the production floor after everything before it is finished. That is why two suppliers can quote the same bottle at the same lead time and still deliver three weeks apart. The difference is almost never the production line. It is the segments the quote did not mention.
| Segment | What it covers | Clock starts when | Clock stops when | Usual position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tooling lead time | Cutting, finishing and correcting a new mould | Drawing approved and deposit received | First acceptable shot is approved | Roughly 30 working days for a new mould |
| Sample lead time | Making, decorating and couriering sample units | Artwork or 3D file released | Samples leave the factory | 3–10 working days when an existing mould covers the shape |
| Mass production lead time | Moulding, assembly, decoration, packing | Deposit received and colour released | C cartons sealed and counted | Quoted as a range, tied to model count and colour count |
| Transit lead time | Booking, loading, sailing or air freight, customs | Goods handed to the carrier | Container or consignment arrives | Not the factory’s to promise — confirmed by the forwarder |
The only one of the four a factory controls end to end is mass production. Tooling is theirs but starts on your drawing. Sampling depends on how many rounds you take. Transit belongs to your forwarder, and quoting it in-house is the most common reason a delivery date slips with nobody at fault.
What does a quoted production lead time usually leave out?
The number in a quotation email is the visible part; the excluded parts are where the schedule is actually decided. Ask for each of these as a named line with a day count.
| Excluded item | Why it sits outside the quote | Who controls it | What to ask for |
|---|---|---|---|
| New mould or tooling | Quoted as a separate fee, so the days are quoted separately | Factory, from approved drawing | Working days from drawing approval to first acceptable shot |
| Colour matching | Masterbatch matching is a setup activity, not a run activity | Factory, with your Pantone reference | Days to a first-article colour approval |
| Sample production and courier | Each round is a new job on the floor | Shared — you decide how many rounds | Working days per round plus courier transit |
| Waiting for your answer | A factory cannot compress the time you take to review a sample | You | A written response deadline, e.g. 3 working days |
| Inspection before loading | Occurs after cartons are packed, before the container closes | You or your third-party inspector | Booking notice period and a report turnaround |
| Container booking and cut-off | The vessel has a cut-off date that is not negotiable per order | Forwarder and carrier | Booking cut-off and the ETD it creates |
Two of these six sit on your side of the line. A supplier that gives you both a clear production lead time and a clear answer deadline is doing you a favour, because those two rows are where well-run programmes quietly lose a fortnight.
How do I write four separate lead times into a purchase order?
Do not accept a single sentence. A purchase order that says “lead time 30 working days” is unenforceable, because there is no event that starts it and no event that ends it. Write the trigger and the event, in that order, for each segment.
| Clause | Wording that survives a dispute | Why this wording |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger | “All lead times run from the later of deposit receipt and written drawing approval” | Removes the argument about which document started the clock |
| Tooling | “New mould: 30 working days from drawing approval to first acceptable shot” | Gives the factory an end condition it can evidence |
| Sampling | “Samples: 3–10 working days per round from file release; courier transit quoted separately” | Separates factory time from courier time |
| Mass production | “Mass production: X–Y working days from deposit and colour release to sealed cartons” | Stays a range, because a range is what a factory can actually hold |
| Inspection | “Inspection to be booked 3 days before completion; release to carrier within 2 working days of a pass” | Puts the post-inspection handoff on a clock too |
| Transit | “EXW/FOB Shenzhen; transit quoted by buyer’s forwarder, vessel cut-off 5 days before ETD” | Stops the factory from promising a sailing it does not control |
Note the incoterm in the last row. Under Incoterms 2020 the point where cost and risk pass also decides whose calendar the goods enter. FOB puts the ocean leg on the buyer; DDP puts the whole leg on the seller. A delivery date written on an EXW quotation and one written on a DDP quotation are not comparable. Our guide to freight, customs and incoterms for imported bottles covers that side.
What is the difference between lead time and delivery date?
Lead time is a duration. Delivery date is a commitment. Buyers lose money when they treat the first as the second, because a duration can absorb delay quietly while a date cannot.
| Lead time | Delivery date | |
|---|---|---|
| Form | A range, e.g. 25–30 working days | A single date, e.g. container on 14 March |
| Who commits to it | The factory, for its own segment only | Whoever owns the leg — buyer or seller, by incoterm |
| What happens on a miss | Absorbed, usually without notice | Escalates immediately, because a date was promised |
| Best use | Production planning and reorder scheduling | Launch plans, retail windows, marketing commitments |
| Who should set it | Supplier, with your input on holidays | Buyer, working backwards from the shelf date |
A third term causes more confusion than either: shipment lead time, meaning deposit to vessel departure. Many suppliers quote it as if it were production lead time, which compresses your real schedule by the whole of the transit window. Ask which of the two a quoted figure refers to, in writing.
How do holidays and peak season change the calendar?
Working days are counted on the factory’s calendar, not yours, and that calendar includes national holidays you may not observe. A 30-working-day lead time crossing one holiday week is 30 working days and about six calendar weeks. Peak season is worse, because it is not a holiday on anyone’s list — every order in the same window competes for the same machines.
| Situation | What happens to the calendar | Buffer to plan on top of the quoted range |
|---|---|---|
| Run crosses a public holiday week | Working-day count holds; calendar weeks stretch | Add 5–10 calendar days |
| Run crosses the Lunar New Year period | Lines stop, staff leave, dates move as a block | Add 2–3 working days to the working-day count itself |
| Peak season, multiple models queued | Your run takes the slot behind others of similar size | Add 5–10 working days |
| New tooling plus production | Two segments serialise, each with its own queue | Add 10 working days across the two |
| Custom colour needing a Pantone match | A first-article colour approval sits inside the run | Add 3–5 working days |
These are planning buffers, not excuses. Their purpose is to move the risk out of the last week, where it is expensive, and into the estimate, where it is cheap. Our note on where the weeks actually go in a lead time sets out the same arithmetic across a full programme, and how much longer mass production is than sampling covers the gap between the two segments buyers quote most often.
How do I ask a supplier to break lead time into milestones?
Ask for a milestone schedule with a date against each line, and make it a condition of the purchase order rather than a courtesy of the account manager. Send this list:
- Drawing and artwork approval date. The start event, in writing, with a named approver on your side.
- Deposit date. Because most lead times run from the later of deposit and drawing approval, both dates matter.
- Tooling completion date, if a new mould is involved, with the definition of “acceptable shot” agreed in advance.
- Colour approval date, covering masterbatch matching and first-article colour sign-off.
- Sample dispatch date per round, plus the courier reference once it ships.
- Production start date, stated as a working-day window rather than a single day.
- Completion and packing date, expressed in cartons and units so it can be counted.
- Inspection booking window, with the notice period your inspection contract requires.
- Container or consignment handover date, which is the real end of production lead time.
- A written response deadline of your own, because the wait for your approval is part of the schedule and belongs in it.
Any supplier unwilling to produce a milestone schedule is telling you the schedule does not exist yet. That is useful information, and it is much cheaper to receive it before the deposit.
Which three lead-time mistakes cost buyers a launch date?
1. Treating the quoted number as the whole schedule. One number, read as four segments, is the most common cause of a late launch. The production line kept its promise; the segments that were never quoted kept theirs.
2. Starting the clock from the purchase order rather than from approval. If your drawing takes a week to approve, the factory cannot start, and a lead time that began on the PO date is already late on day one. Fix it with a trigger clause rather than an argument.
3. Quoting the transit leg in-house. Production lead time ends at sealed cartons. Everything after that — booking, cut-off, sailing, customs — belongs to your forwarder and is not covered by the factory’s promise. Get the ETD and ETA from the carrier and compare them against the retail date, not the factory’s calendar.
How do you plan a reorder so the clock never bites twice?
The same four segments run again on every reorder, which is why a reorder plan that counts only production time fails the same way twice. Work backwards from the date the shelf must be full, add the transit window your forwarder confirms, then add the segments above and your own response deadlines. Our guide to planning replenishment so you never run out sets out that backwards calculation.
Frequently asked questions
Does lead time include the mould?
Usually not. A new mould adds roughly 30 working days and is normally quoted as a separate fee, so the days are quoted separately too. Ask for tooling days and production days as two lines.
Does lead time start when I place the order?
Not reliably. It normally starts from the later of your deposit and written drawing approval. Put that sentence in the purchase order so the start event is not a matter of opinion.
Is 30 working days about six calendar weeks?
Yes when the period crosses a holiday week, and longer at peak season when several programmes compete for the same lines. Ask the supplier to confirm the calendar dates, not just the day count.
Should the delivery date be on the purchase order?
Yes, but separate it from lead time. Lead time is a range the factory holds; the delivery date is a commitment that depends on the incoterm and on the ocean or air leg.
Who should book the container?
Under FOB it is yours; under DDP it is the seller’s. Whichever applies, get the booking cut-off in writing, because that date — not the production completion date — is what the vessel is waiting for.
How many sample rounds should a lead time allow for?
One if the design is proven, two or three if colour or decoration is being developed. Sampling and mass production do not run in parallel, so each extra round adds its full length to the schedule before production begins.
About Shijin Packaging
Shijin Packaging Products Co., Ltd. has been manufacturing plastic packaging in Shenzhen, Huizhou and Guangzhou since 2003. We hold more than 2,000 existing moulds, run ISO 9001, GRS and SGS audited production, and ship roughly 500,000 bottles a day. Because more than 2,000 moulds already exist, the shortest route to a production date is very often a shape that is already running.
Send us your target date and we will tell you what it takes: give us the capacity, material and closure you need, plus the date the bottles must be in your warehouse, and we will return a milestone schedule rather than a single number.