Phased delivery of a large order: rolling out kit in waves (500–10,000 pieces)

Receiving 10,000 pieces in one go isn't always what you want. Between storage, cash flow and your rollout schedule, a large order often works better delivered in waves. At FLARE CUSTOM, this phased delivery is available on request — here's how to organise it so you can pace your rollout without drowning in boxes.

Why not take everything at once

On an order of 500 to 10,000 pieces, a single delivery raises three very concrete problems:

• Storage: several thousand pieces is a volume of pallets that a club, an association or even an agency doesn't always have room for.
• Cash flow and use: if the rollout spans a season or several sites, tying up all the kit at once brings little benefit.
• Getting quantities right: changing headcounts, new joiners, sizes to adjust… keeping part of the order in reserve avoids locking in a breakdown too early.

The common outcome of a single delivery: part of the stock sits in a storeroom for months while another part is already missing where it's needed.

How phased delivery works

The principle is simple: together, at the quote stage, we set a rollout schedule. Production is launched once your design is approved, then the pieces ship in waves on the agreed dates rather than in a single consignment. A buffer stock can be held at the workshop between waves — again, on request.

Each wave ships like a normal delivery: 6 working days across Europe, tracked. One key point: this isn't automatic, it's an option to request and to define in the quote. Flag it as soon as you request a quote so it's built into the schedule from the start.

Building your rollout schedule

Good phasing is prepared upstream. A few markers:

• Map the milestones: sites to equip, events, restart dates, high points of the season. Each milestone becomes a wave.
• Prioritise the first wave: staff, project leads, the pieces that need to be visible straight away. That's the one that has to be ready first.
• Keep a reserve for replenishment and new joiners — that's the whole point of not releasing everything at once. Getting the size breakdown on a large order right helps size that reserve.
• Work back from the earliest date: it's that date, not the last wave, that drives when production starts.

Plan for lead times: the crux of it

This is where phased projects are won or lost. Current lead time is 4 to 5 weeks of production after you approve your design, then delivery of each wave. With express production unavailable at the moment, everything rests on anticipation: far better to set the schedule early than to count on a last-minute rush. Our current lead times are kept up to date — check them before fixing the date of your first wave.

What sublimation and "from a single piece" change

Two strengths make phasing especially smooth with us:

• European manufacturing (our workshop is in Bulgaria, in the EU) shortens the loop: replenishing or relaunching a wave stays simple, without depending on distant shipping.
• Production from a single piece, no minimum: a wave can be small with no quantity penalty. You never have to bundle shipments artificially.

Another key point: with all-over sublimation, colours are infused into the fibre. From one wave to the next the result stays identical — no colour drift to fear between a first and a last delivery months apart. Logos and sponsors, meanwhile, remain unlimited and at no surcharge, whatever the wave.