Thousands of Small Details Need Managing
Measurements. Finishes. Hardware selections. Mechanical options. Customization possibilities. COM or COL logistics. Hundreds of different SKUs. Lighting temperatures. There are so many details to review during procurement, and each one needs to be ordered correctly, according to the specification, the designer’s intent, and what’s actually possible within the interior environment.
A seemingly small detail can make a big difference once an item reaches the site.
Delays Have a Domino Effect
Delays can impact many different parts of a project and ultimately affect the turnover date for your client. A delayed shop drawing approval can hold up production. A discontinued piece may need to be resourced. An order that isn’t processed quickly enough can miss its intended shipping window and delay its arrival at a port or airport terminal.
As a rule of thumb, I always recommend adding some buffer time to your lead times, especially when working with boutique suppliers and overseas manufacturers. Orders and payments can take several days to process before production or shipping even begins.
Then there’s transportation. Orders crossing international borders need to clear customs, and sometimes unexpected delays happen along the way.
Some delays you can stay ahead of by ensuring your own approvals and deliverables are completed on time. Others, such as customs delays, are outside of your control. You can plan carefully, follow up and communicate, but there will always be parts of the process you simply cannot control.
Problem Solving Happens Every Day
There are always little problems that need to be ironed out before, during and even after purchasing.
A fabric the designer selected may have been in stock during design development, but by the time the project reaches the approval and procurement stage, it may have been discontinued with only limited stock remaining, if any. A custom dining table arrives on site, but the delivery team accidentally damages it. Now it needs to be repaired or replaced. You approve a CFA and request that the mill ship the fabric to the workroom, only to discover the wrong fabric bolt was sent. A custom sofa using COM is made and delivered to the client's home, but after six months of regular use, the fabric begins to pill. A custom rug is made with an opening for a floor outlet based on the measurements provided, but when it arrives, the opening is slightly off from the outlet's actual location. You provide a workroom with a stain sample to match, only for the sample to be misplaced and another one requested.
There are so many moving parts… and just as many reasons why issues can arise.
Anticipating problems ahead of time can help reduce the number of problems you encounter later. Requesting updated construction drawings is great, but getting actual onsite measurements for outlets is even better. Sending a furniture workroom a cutting of the approved fabric along with the key specification information gives them another opportunity to confirm that what they received is correct before production begins. Having a reputable repair team on hand can help resolve issues quickly when accidents happen. Documenting delivery and installation days is equally important so you have a record if a damage claim needs to be made. Keeping a control sample in your office (one that does not leave) is incredibly helpful if another sample gets misplaced.
Anticipate as much as you can, and be prepared to maneuver when something inevitably changes.
Accuracy Is Non-Negotiable
Taking the time to properly review drawings, measurements and FF&E selections helps ensure the correct pieces are being specified and ordered. Something as small as transposing numbers in an item code can result in ordering the wrong fabric or product. An incorrect measurement can mean a piece is completely wrong for the scale of the room, which becomes especially costly when you're dealing with custom or special-order items.
It never hurts to slow down and review everything carefully before an order is placed. A few extra minutes spent checking the details can prevent weeks of problems later.
Procurement Is Risk Management
When procuring FF&E for a project, it's important to think ahead and anticipate anything that could affect your orders. That includes understanding seasonal and holiday shutdowns. Factories in China may close or reduce operations around Lunar New Year, while businesses in parts of Southern and Western Europe often slow down during extended summer holidays.
If production is scheduled around these periods, your expected completion date may need additional time built into it.
Ordering CFAs (or Cuttings for Approval) is another important step. A CFA allows you to confirm that the fabric being shipped is the correct colour and pattern and, importantly, that the dye lot is what you're expecting.
I've had orders where the current dye lot appeared noticeably more purple when compared with the memo sample we had on file. We requested another dye lot, and the replacement was a much better match to the sample the designer had originally approved.
And then there are site conditions.
Check the entryways. Check the elevators. Check the clearances.
Nothing is worse than making it to installation day, having your custom sofa unloaded from the truck and brought through the lobby, only to discover that it's too long to fit inside the elevator cab, or there isn't enough clearance in the hallway to turn the piece into the client's home.
If there is no alternate way to get the piece inside, the designer may have to send it back to the workroom to have it modified or remade. That could mean additional labour and possibly additional fabric. And hopefully, if more fabric is needed, the mill still has material available from the same dye lot so there aren't noticeable colour differences.
You can see how one missed measurement can suddenly cost the designer more money, add weeks to the project timeline and create a less-than-seamless experience for the client. That is why procurement isn't simply purchasing. It’s also risk management.
Final thoughts…
Yes, these are all real experiences I've had to handle during my time working alongside interior designers. And that's exactly why I believe good procurement is so important.
Mistakes during procurement can be costly and, in some cases, cause weeks or even months of delays. Having someone with procurement experience involved in the process can help a designer identify potential issues before they become expensive problems.
You can't anticipate everything. There will always be discontinued products, damaged deliveries, production errors and unexpected site conditions. But you can build systems that catch more of those problems earlier. And the more you anticipate what could go wrong, the fewer headaches you're likely to encounter during the final, and often most critical, stages of a project.
There are plenty of other parts of procurement I could continue to break down… perhaps there needs to be a part two!
Cheers,
Lo