In Part 1 of this series, we talked about first contact with an industrial oven supplier and what you should expect during the proposal process. In this post, we are going to walk through what to expect after an order is placed and before manufacturing begins.
Order Placement with an Industrial Oven Manufacturer
At this stage in the process, you should have invested your time and answered all the questions posed by your suppliers during the information gathering stage that precedes any proposal. You’ve reviewed the proposals received and decided who you will partner with.
The last thing you want at this point is to award the contract and then feel like it has fallen into a black hole because there is no communication with the supplier. After receiving the award, the industrial oven supplier should enter the contract into their contract management system and have an order acknowledgement sent to you by the end of the following business day.
Depending on the terms negotiated, you should also receive a down-payment invoice by the end of the following business day. For most turnkey industrial oven suppliers, receipt of the down payment starts the clock ticking on the engineering phase of the project. Project timelines are important, and when the down payment is delayed, the rest of the project timeline suffers. It is imperative to the oven supplier that the down payment adheres to the agreed-upon terms so that the timeline you’ve agreed upon can be achieved.
Project Kickoff for a Custom Industrial Oven
Once all the paperwork is in order, you should expect to receive an email from an employee within the supplier’s production group. This communication should include a timeline for the overall project, along with the names and contact information for key personnel who will be involved in the project. At Davron, our production manager will send an email that includes key personnel and a timeline with the following milestones:
The start date of the engineering phase of the project
Approval drawing submission date (mechanical and electrical disciplines)
Complete engineering timeline (mechanical and electrical disciplines)
Purchase date of major mechanical components
Mechanical production timeline
Purchase of major electrical components
Electrical production timeline
Operational testing
Customer runoff date at Davron headquarters
Shipping preparation
Ship date to customer facility
The goal for any supplier should be 100-percent on-time delivery. However, we all know that is not always realistic, which means that there must be continuous transparency about project progress. This open communication enables both parties to adjust accordingly and eliminates unwanted surprises.
Engineering of a Custom Industrial Oven Solution
Once the engineering phase begins, you should expect to receive a telephone call from an employee within the engineering department of the oven manufacturer. The timing of this call will depend on the milestones noted in the project documentation described above. This phone call should serve to introduce the engineering staff you will be working with and formally launch the engineering phase of the project. Other items that should be covered are:
Detailed timeline for the engineering phase of the project
General discussion of the physical size of the oven and any space restrictions on site
Date for submittal of basic concept drawing
Date for customer approval of basic concept drawing
After approval is received for the basic concept drawing, the oven supplier’s engineering team will go to work on the formal approval drawings. Once these are complete, the supplier will email them to you. This email should also include the date by which approval needs to be received to keep the project on schedule. Again, transparency is crucial if the project timeline is to be met or if any preparations need to be made to adjust the timeline.
Once the customer has signed off on the formal approval drawings, the engineering group will complete the detailed engineering for the project and submit the drawings to the manufacturing group. At this point, production of the custom industrial oven will begin and major components will be released for purchase.
In our next post in this series, Part 3, we will discuss what should take place during the manufacturing phase of a custom industrial oven.
