What’s going on with order delays?

Hi there! Tim, CEO/Founder here. We were doing pretty good there for a bit, huh? We were really cranking things out at a good pace, significantly reducing the amount of time it took to make and send out orders... Things were good. I mean, they technically still are-- this isn’t a doompost. Our side of production is doing exceptionally well, and I’m super proud of our team.

That being said, the most frustrating things can happen. If I’m not as eloquent as I sometimes am, it’s because I’ve been losing sleep and my brain is all foggy. Also I ran out of my ADHD medication and it’s not getting refilled on time so I’m a little discombobulated from that too. Nothing an excessive amount of caffeine can’t fix, right?

...Right?

Anyway, here’s the thing. Our supply chain was running nice and smooth, and things were arriving on time, we were on a roll. Things were going well. Too well. We all suspected that something was going to go wrong at some point, because that’s just been how things go, and we were all bracing for what would inevitably happen.

And then... nothing. Good, right? Things were arriving on time, we got our supplies as needed... then one day, during receiving, we received broth powder. No problems there, we needed the Noodtrient broth, and--

Wait a minute. We just got broth in the last shipment. Weren’t we supposed to get the aroma oil? Wasn’t this marked as oil?

No, it was clearly broth. Did we misorder? Why was this listed oil on the shipping paper?

We all heaved a collective sigh, and whipped out our company-issued detective monocles. (Note to procurement: We need more of these. I lost mine again)

Tracing through all of our documentation (which, if you haven’t done that before, is REALLY boring and annoying), we tracked step by step the processes, verified the tracking, checked our purchase orders, math’d up the ingredient recipe usage rates. It all matched up. At least...

Those were the reported quantities. We work with a third-party blender and sacheter, who blends together our Noodtrient Broths and puts them into the little packets for us. This reduces allergen management for us, and allows us to focus on the things we do best, like making noodles. We’ve worked with these blenders for a long time, and they’re very good... but also, everyone does make mistakes sometimes.

In this case, we know they’ve gotten some new people, and those new people may have not understood the assignment the best. What we found is that even though all the documentation they delivered to us indicated they were blending and packaging oil to send to us... They actually did the powder instead.

Even the bill of lading, or the shipping manifest, claimed it was oil. Only when we received it and opened up the boxes did we discover that it was, indeed, not oil.

Well, shit.

We contacted the company immediately to get oil on the board, and to figure out what happened and resolve the issue and potential impact on inventory. Even as a rush order, this would take some time... which is where we are today. We have some leftovers for some flavors, and other flavors, like Roasted Soy Sauce Chicken and Garlic Pork Tonkotsu, will be more impacted.

We expect the oils to land next week, and we’ll be rushing to get everything out then.

It’s definitely not ideal, and it’s not what we wanted, but hey, could’ve gone worse. At least it wasn’t lost (I’m knocking very loudly on wood right now), and in this case, we just have more powder than we originally expected.

If you see more sales and stuff lately, that’s part of what’s going on. With more powder, we also ironically have to order more oil too, which also means we have excess inventory, which then means that you’re getting lucky... We’re doing some more deals and other things to move the extra out. Keep an eye out for those deals!

While you’re here, tell some friends about it, post in some groups and communities you’re part of!

Anyway, that’ll be about it for now-- I’ll be back to doing more blog posts and more behind the scenes stuff soon. As always, let us know what you’d like to see, and if you prefer blog posts like this, or video, or what format works best for you!

Remember to be kind, and savor life’s little victories.

-Tim, CEO/Founder Vite Kitchens