The impossible deadline and absent supplier
The deadline won the first order. The service won the second.
Berry Compliance was not optional on this kind of contract. The textile had to be domestically sourced and domestically sewn, which removes most of the supply base before the conversation starts. That was a hard constraint on a good day. This was not a good day.
The situation
A manufacturer of respiratory and safety equipment needed 7,000 Berry Compliant bags for a facepiece product line. Berry Compliance requires the textile to be sourced and sewn domestically, so the pool of suppliers who can even quote the work is small before anyone talks about timing.
The pain
Two problems arrived together, and only one of them was about the bag.
The first was arithmetic. Three thousand of the seven thousand units were needed in roughly 35 days. The account record describes it plainly as an impossible deadline with no one to turn to.
The second was older and more corrosive. Their current supplier had stopped being responsive. The buyer's own note records being very unhappy with the service, and names poor service and poor communication rather than a defective product. The bags were fine, but nobody was answering the phone.
What happened
The bag was quoted, patterned and put into production against the Berry Compliant requirement. Our line in Green Bay, WI was able to shift production schedules along with extending working hours to make this happen. The client was ecstatic and due to the nature of berry compliance, domestic sourcing made the timeline possible...There was no ocean freight causing delays.
What it led to
The first program closed at $190,000. A second program for the same face piece bag followed at $45,000, and the account record states the buyer's intent to move the majority of this bag business across.
That second order is the part worth noticing. The deadline is what made them call. The way the first order was handled is why they came back. The largest category of pain across our deal history is not price, quality or speed, it is a supplier who stopped behaving like a partner, and this account changed hands for exactly that reason. At Midwest, were here to be your partner, not just a vendor.