Deliver just in time or store on site: making the call
The drywall supplier wants to deliver every floor's material this week. The superintendent has little protected storage and several months of interior work ahead. Custom windows have the opposite problem: one late delivery could hold up closing the envelope.
Choose delivery timing for each material by comparing the consequence of late arrival with the space, handling and protection needed for early storage. Make the decision with the supplier and the site sequence in view. A just-in-time plan needs credible supply and a fallback. Early delivery needs a suitable, authorized storage arrangement, not simply an empty patch of floor.
- Identify when the material must be available and which work depends on it. Distinguish the first installation date from the dates later areas will need their quantities.
- Ask the supplier for current production, stock and transport information. Consider what could interrupt the promised date and how quickly the order could be recovered or replaced.
- Review available storage with the responsible site and technical people. Check the product's protection requirements, permitted loading and access arrangements; do not assume a finished floor can hold any quantity.
- Compare the total consequences of each option. Include off-site storage, double handling, protection, damage exposure and the effect of a late delivery on crews and dependent work.
- Choose a phased or early-delivery arrangement and record its assumptions. Confirm ownership of protection, storage access and any off-site stock reserved for the project.
- Set a review trigger before installation. If the sequence slips or supply becomes uncertain, change the delivery plan while the goods can still stay safely with the supplier or move through an agreed alternative.
Common mistakes
- Calling a delivery just in time without checking the supplier's ability to hold the date.
- Treating double handling as free because site labour is already present.
- Letting an early shipment block the next trade's workface.
- Keeping the original delivery plan after the installation date moves.
Checklist
Before choosing the date
- Installation need by area
- Late-arrival consequence
- Supply evidence and fallback
- Approved storage capacity
- Protection and handling responsibilities
- Trigger to review the decision
Check your understanding
A stored material needs moving twice before installation, while the supplier can hold it at no agreed extra charge. What should you compare?
