For buyers running a supply programme rather than a single purchase: several suppliers coordinated in one view, quotations read on one basis, goods consolidated for dispatch, production and documents followed through, and the specification held for the next order.
Coordination work is decided on what is comparable and what is recorded. Each block below names what it covers, the checkpoint that has to pass and what the record holds afterwards.
Several factories can run in parallel on one programme. Progress, lead time and quality questions are followed in one view, so a question at one supplier does not stay hidden behind another order.
Factory quotations are compared and presented under one agreed trade model: commission agency converts the factory quotation at the exchange rate and charges the service fee separately, while resale carries the margin in the price.
Where an order covers more than one supplier, what is collected, marked and despatched together is agreed in advance, with any charge for consolidation, storage or handling stated separately.
Material is checked before production starts, production is followed after that, and the finished goods are inspected before dispatch. A lead time change or a quality question is raised with the client, and the order continues once there is agreement.
The documentation desk prepares what the shipment needs against the trade terms agreed for the order. Dispatch follows written approval of the inspection report or the bulk sample, and the balance payment.
A restock or a further batch starts from what the last order settled: the specification, the approved sample and the previous inspection report are read again before the next order is placed.
The same axes are used for every order, so quotations and milestones can be read against the requirement rather than against an impression of a supplier. The table carries no savings figure, no supplier count and no transit commitment.
| Coordination axis | What is aligned | State on the record |
|---|---|---|
| Quotation comparison | Factory quotations raised for the same requirement, converted and presented under the agreed trade model. | Presented under one model |
| Payment schedule | The deposit and balance pattern for the order, with smaller orders following the service rate schedule. | Written into the PI |
| Production milestones | Material check before production, production follow-up and the pre-shipment check, one line per supplier where several run in parallel. | Followed to the agreed stages |
| Consolidation | What is collected, marked and despatched together, and any charge for consolidation, storage or handling quoted separately. | Arrangement agreed per order |
| Documentation | Commercial and shipping documents prepared for the trade terms agreed on the order. | Checked before dispatch |
| Shipment preparation | Release against written client approval and the balance payment, then loading under the agreed trade terms. | Released in writing |
| Repeat orders | The specification, sample approval and last inspection report carried into the next order. | Held for the next order |
A programme is managed on what is written down: which suppliers are running, what each quotation covers, what was consolidated, what was checked and what was released. Nothing above is a commitment on price, capacity or transit — each is confirmed against the order in hand and written into the PI.
The stages and their owners are set out on Our Process; the checks and the defects recorded during them are on Quality Control; the service modules the work is quoted from are on Sourcing Services. Brands buying under their own name take a different route: Sourcing for Brands.
One file per order rather than one per supplier: quotations, contracts, checks, documents and the release stay together, so a repeat order, a claim or a query months later can be answered from what was actually agreed.
Where a claim, a rework or a re-inspection is raised, it is handled against this file rather than from memory; the way exceptions are coordinated is set out on Our Process.
Consolidation, the batch record and shipment preparation. Each figure below is a placeholder labelled with the size it should be replaced at.
Where the order runs across more than one supplier or product line, say so at the start: it shapes how the sourcing, the milestones and the dispatch are set up.