What is the purchase cycle and how long is it?

From the time a need to purchase is generated until the product reaches the customer’s hands, the process required is complex, subject to different actors.

In this post, we will explain what is happening and, mostly, how much time is needed.

Manta Consulting Inc. 2013 | Fish2.0

Note that good forecasting is key to securing the supplies of each product. That implies having in mind and monitoring the following steps:

1. Order

Once the deal is closed, the trade conditions are established, and the order is signed. Everything is ready to start the process.

2. Production

This includes capture, unloading, product processing (cut, manipulation, and packaging), and logistic preparation (package and storage). This process is subject to the product’s availability at each time of the season. Assuming it is available, the period between confirming the order and having the product ready varies between 3 and 5 weeks.
IMPORTANT: If a high and complex standardization of the product is required, the production time can be extended 10–15 days.

3. Documentation

Once the product is ready, the batch documentation must be well-handled before loading. That can take 2–3 days.

4. Charge

If the documentation is confirmed and validated, the load is done in a day.

5. Transport

Currently, it is the most sensitive and least predictable part of the process. The current situation has led to a collapse of the maritime transport sector. Oil prices have gone upside down, and transport availability has decreased. That has led us to have longer delivery times than usual. Unfortunately, the situation does not seem to have an ending soon, and we must consider that transport times will remain like this during 2022. That means that medium-ocean transport will take 60 days from source to destination.

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If we add up all the stages, we are talking about approximately 90 days overall, between the confirmation of an order and its arrival at the destination port. In this context, it is essential to take account of this duration when undertaking purchase programs.

As buyers and suppliers, we all want to have the shortest deadlines possible, of course, but we must consider and accept that, in the last year and a half, the supply chain has undergone unexpected variations that have led to longer delivery times.

From Easyfish we work together with our customers and suppliers to coordinate, plan and establish the best times to meet the needs of each market.

Easyfish Group