How often have we heard this dialogue by many a buyers in office? They keep resurrecting with order emails every now & then…

But, is an email or a phone call an order?

Let me share a humorous incident from my first job which answers this question.

Straight out of traineeship, I was moved into the merchandising function at this company which was a pioneer of sorts in our country. It was a fashion retail chain with stores across the country and many private labels along with a few brands.

The company was growing at an unprecedented rate & almost doubling in size every year. But the supply chain can be at best defined as erratic. Being managed by the many different private label teams, it was confusing and chaotic.

The Chairman, Mr. Allead Dumbledore had decided in his wisdom that it was time to professionalise the sourcing function and got Mr. Sourcerers Stone to join the team as the sourcing head. He was tasked with standardising the processes, setting up SOP’s, conducting regular reviews etc.

In his quest to be known as fair and sincere, he started pushing us for clear data, quick closures and constantly pursuing us for details. This did not go down very well with my boss Ms. Merchandising Myrtle, the Buying and Merchandising head. She was a spitfire, best described by the Hindi word ‘Dabang’ , meaning brazen, daring, direct…

And so, a few months into his new role, Mr. Sourcerers Stone was summoned to the Chairman’s office. On entering, he was ushered into the conference room, where he was ambushed by our ‘Dabang’ leader and us.

After being chastised on some of the trailing deliveries, our Dabang leader got to the point.

‘See! This is what I am saying? Your team has not even placed the order. You are not even aware?’ Dabang was in full flow; she had the sourcing head where she wanted him, on the run.

‘Let me call my team lead for this category’, Mr. Sourcerers Stone said in distress. ‘Have we got a blazer order from them’, he asked his team lead, when he came in.

‘Yes, sir’, said the team lead cautiously, not knowing what he had walked into.

‘Why did this order not reflect in the ORM (Operational Review Meeting, for the ignoramus) data when we reviewed it yesterday’, he was asked.

‘Oh! That’s because I just received an enquiry on mail from their buyer yesterday asking if it was possible to make blazers in six weeks and supply for Diwali. They have an enquiry from one of their channels’, the man was visibly relaxed, now that he knew what the issue was. ‘And I have already called for swatches for selection from available stock’.

There was stunned silence in the room.

To the chairman, the issue was being built around the incompetence of the sourcing team and their new Head. How he did not even know that there was an order on hand?!

Mr. Allead Dumbledore, who obviously was a past master at dealing with such situations quickly seized the opportunity to make a point.

‘For it to be construed an order, it has to have all specifications clearly defined and documented. What is the fabric code, BOM, fit specifications? Without such clear definition, it cannot be an order, it’s an enquiry. It is the business team’s responsibility to ensure that sufficient details are provided to the sourcing team, enabling them to process an order’.

Turning to us he said that, ‘there is a difference between an order and an “enquiry” or “intent’. It actually takes a lot of work to issue an order.’

And then to the Mr. Sourcerous Stone, ’Put together a minimum threshold, below which you will not consider it a live order, at least 4 or 5 mandatory fields in an order form’.

There are many lessons in this anecdote. Definitely behavioural and management lessons, but what the chairman then sat and defined, was pertinent and relevant in all situations.

Enquiry or Intent to Order is not an Order.

Orders are clear liabilities which the business is undertaking and hence must be in black and white.

For orders to be ‘actionable’, they must mandatorily contain sufficient information to process that order.

What’s the big deal with this, it’s common sense, you say. Well, strangely enough, it’s not. And this is the bane of the Fashion industry. It’s a highly subjective industry and extremely people dependent. How well made or how fast your goods come in is decided more by how well the order is defined and how clearly all the data is given.

Do share with me, your thoughts and experiences on this same issue.

RELATED TOPICS:#Apparel,Anindya Ray