What Happens After I Place my Purchase Order with Strouse?

After days of mulling over your die cut quote, you finally send back a confirmation. However, the relief you feel is slowly overshadowed by the frustration of awaiting updates.

Having experienced delays from both material suppliers and die cut tool manufacturers over the years, Strouse understands firsthand why process transparency matters so much to our customers.

After you’ve read this, you will know what happens after you order and feel confident receiving a ship date acknowledgement at the end of our post-purchasing process. 

What Happens After I Place My Purchase Order with Strouse?

You’ve placed an order. Congratulations! 

Unfortunately, the die cut process lacks instant gratification. It may be several weeks or months before you receive your parts. However, there are a lot of things going on between now and then to ensure you receive the correct number of parts in your desired packaging format. From updating your contact information to sending you the final ship date and acknowledgement, we’ll explain the steps of our process so you can prepare for what happens after the purchase order. 

1. THE ORDER ENTERS OUR SYSTEM

There are two types of purchase orders: New orders and reorders.

NEW ORDERS

When placing a new order, Strouse will enter your contact details into our system and compile information from the estimate for production purposes. During this stage, you’ll receive an email asking for your current payment details while our production managers review the job information to provide additional input on process planning.

REORDERS

If you’re reordering a part, this stage will consist of checking the previous quote to ensure there haven’t been any changes since you last ordered.

2. WE DETERMINE TOOLING (IF ANY)

Many laser cutting or flash cutting jobs do not require tooling. However, rotary and flatbed die cut press jobs require us to purchase a die cut tool, which goes as follows:

• This may entail slight adjustments to meet your requested specs. 

Your tooling lead time will typically be between 1 and 5 weeks. However, because it depends on factors such as the complexity of the tooling design itself, the lead time can be challenging to predict with 100% accuracy. 

3. STROUSE ORDERS (OR YOU SEND) MATERIAL  

Although we may carry your desired material, Strouse will most likely need to acquire it from suppliers. Depending on the material, the lead time can be a few weeks to a few months. 

STROUSE ORDERS MATERIAL

If we have your material in-house, we’ll schedule your machine run time. Otherwise, we’ll need to order it and use the anticipated arrival to calculate your final ship date. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: If we do not have the material in-house and cannot get a sample roll for proofing, we have to wait for the actual order of material to come in. This is a rare circumstance, but it does occur on occasion. 

YOU SUPPLY MATERIAL

You might be thinking about supplying your own material. If so, consider the pros and cons of using your own adhesive and whether it's right for your project. Using your own adhesive will require you to deliver the material on time, so any material-based delays will be out of our hands. 

4. WE SCHEDULE THE MACHINE RUN TIME

Machine run time relies upon the successful coordination of every other element in the purchasing process. Strouse looks at two factors when scheduling machine run time: machine and operator availability.

a. MACHINE AVAILABILITY 

Certain jobs require specific machines, such as those requiring the higher sanitization standards of our ISO 7 Cleanroom. 

For each job, we anticipate the length of the material run time and plan accordingly. Ideally, we’ll schedule jobs for longer machine run times to avoid setup waste and save you money. 

b. OPERATOR AVAILABILITY 

Because of limited machine and operator availability, jobs are often scheduled further in advance. Operator availability is as essential as machine availability and requires the forethought of assigning operators to jobs where they may have had prior experience. 

The ultimate goal of this stage is to ensure we can deliver your parts on time, so be sure to consider any part validation and verification (V&V) when determining your deadline. 

5. WE DETERMINE A SHIP DATE (YOU RECEIVE AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT)

With the die cut tool, material, and machine run time scheduled, we are finally ready to declare your ship date in a sales order acknowledgement.

Your sales order acknowledgement includes your billing address, shipping address, expected ship date, quantity, and part description. If you order multiple parts, there’s a separate acknowledgement page for each part in the same PDF. 

Once you receive the acknowledgement, the next update you’ll hear (assuming there aren’t delays) is your final ship date invoice. This invoice will include all the same information as your acknowledgement, plus your tracking number for shipping. 

6. PRODUCTION AND SHIPMENT

Production and shipment are where the rubber meets the road: all the planning and organizing is about to pay off. If everything goes to plan, your order will be manufactured and shipped by the scheduled ship date in your acknowledgement, by the agreed method. 

If anything occurs (such as updates, issues, or delays with your project), the Strouse customer success team will contact you with an explanation and answer any questions you may have.

What Might Delay My Purchase Order?

The lead times for the die cut tooling and material are the most likely factors in delaying your purchase order. When these lead times are pushed back, they can have a domino effect on the entire process. 

If suppliers don’t ship your material on time, Strouse will delay production and adjust our schedule accordingly. When an order is delayed, Strouse will send a redate acknowledgement, which includes a new shipping date. 

To learn more about your production timeline, refer to the following resources:

1. How Long Will it Take To Receive My Custom Die Cut Parts?
2. What To Expect From Your First Order With Strouse 
   
   

Following up on a Strouse Order 

If you would like to follow up with us regarding a specific order, feel free to call or email us at the following address:

Our team can answer any questions you have about orders and discuss your timeline. 

Originally posted: February 14, 2023