2.3.10 - Acquiring paper in the last five years has certainly changed. We have gone from four major paper distributors in our area to two. Paper lines have been bought and sold more than once. And the in-house paper availability at these distributors has all but disappeared.

What used to be an easy request to the paper suppliers has become downright difficult. Paper just isn't as available as it used to be. What was once a one-day turn around for receiving samples from the paper distributor now takes up to five days from the mill. And sometimes they are stingy on how many sheets they will send you.

If they aren't making the paper anymore or if they have discontinued the paper, this message is usually conveyed rather late in the game. They'll send a substitute sheet without advising you that the paper you requested has been discontinued or that they are no longer the distributor of that certain paper.

If you can get past these hurdles and are able to place an order for a still-available paper, you'll find that the time before it arrives has increased. When ordering from the printer, the wait time that was 1-2 days has become 5-6.

If the truck from the mill is not already scheduled to travel to Michigan, the paper may not ship until the truck is full with Michigan-bound deliveries. This typically could add on almost another week of production time for jobs that would typically take 5-7 days. It is now taking 8-12 days from start to finish!

Of course, this is all information that we keep in mind when creating production schedules for your projects, but it is certainly good information to help scheduling in your office as well!

If you have any questions, let us know!