Chasing an Overdue Supplier Delivery

Check the purchase order. Before contacting the supplier, confirm the delivery date on the original purchase order, the goods expected, and any delivery instructions. Verify whether goods were sent to a site address, warehouse, or directly to a customer.

Assess the impact on the live job. Identify which job or jobs are waiting on this delivery. Determine how many days or hours of delay the business can absorb before the impact becomes significant - whether that is labor standing idle, a customer delivery date at risk, or another supplier's schedule that depends on this delivery arriving first.

Contact the supplier with a single point of contact. One person should make contact - not multiple team members chasing separately. Multiple contacts from different people within your business prevent the supplier from being able to prioritize and can make a bad situation worse. State the PO number, the original delivery date, and the impact of the delay clearly.

Obtain a revised delivery date in writing. A verbal update is not sufficient. Ask the supplier to confirm the new delivery date by email, and ask for a tracking reference or production status update where applicable. Record the new date against the purchase order immediately.

Communicate internally. Update the job owner, project manager, or site contact with the revised ETA. If the delay puts a customer delivery date at risk, notify the customer proactively rather than waiting for them to ask - include the revised date and, if relevant, what steps you are taking to recover the schedule.

Escalate if the supplier does not respond or cannot commit to a date. If the initial contact produces no response within four hours, escalate to a senior contact at the supplier. If that also fails, escalate internally to your procurement lead or business owner and begin identifying alternative suppliers or workarounds.

Review and record the outcome. Once goods arrive, record the actual delivery date against the PO. Note the number of days delayed and whether the supplier provided adequate communication. Use this information when reviewing supplier performance - suppliers with a pattern of late delivery and poor communication should be flagged for review.