Time saved / Order the long-lead items
Procurement schedule for subcontractors: order-by dates and chases
Every long-lead item with the date it must be on site and the date to order it, from the builder’s programme, with each supplier chase drafted.
The builder sets the programme. You own the switchboard, the pipe or the doors that must arrive in time for it, and the chase emails when a supplier goes quiet.
- By hand
- 22 h
- In Excel
- 16 h 30 min
- In YourCA
- 2 h 12 min
- Saved
- 19 h 48 min
Estimate for a 6-month electrical job with 10 people on it, each month on the job. Set your own job.
The risk it heads off
- Long-lead gear is ordered late and your crew stands idle.Shows the order-by date from the programme and reminds you before it.
- A supplier slips and you hear on the day of delivery.Flags late and at-risk items, with the chase drafted.
Step by step
| Step | By hand | Excel | YourCA | What YourCA does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Work out when each item must be on site | 40 min | 30 min | 3 min | Takes each date from the programme activity the item is linked to. |
| Work out the order-by date from the lead time | 20 min | 10 min | 0 min | Counts back from the on-site date for you. |
| Find out how long each supplier takes | 15 min | 10 min | 1 min | Shows how long the supplier usually takes, from your own past deliveries. |
| Write the chase emails | 40 min | 35 min | 5 min | Drafts each chase with the dates and the urgency. It opens in your own email. |
| Write the order to each supplier | 30 min | 20 min | 3 min | Writes one order per supplier, every item with its code, quantity, finish and photo, and marks the lines ordered. |
| Enter supplier quotes | 30 min | 25 min | 5 min | Reads the supplier quote onto the line. You check it. |
| Record what arrived against each order | 20 min | 15 min | 3 min | Receive the delivery line by line, on the desk or on site from the phone, with the docket photo. A line that has all come marks its item delivered. |
| Check each supplier invoice against its order | 25 min | 20 min | 2 min | Drop the invoice on its order. It reads the order number and says Matched, or Differs and by how much. |
| Total, each month on the job | 220 min | 165 min | 22 min |
How to do it in YourCA
Questions subbies ask
- Does YourCA send the chase or the order to my supplier?
- No. Each one opens in your own email, and you send it.
Get the hours back on your next job
Your first job is free. See what YourCA runs or every function’s time saved.
Start free