Quick answer. When an underwear order is delayed, who carries the cost depends on which category the delay falls into: one the buyer controls, one the supplier controls, or one neither controls. Where the contract is silent, the default is usually the buyer’s — which is why the allocation is worth writing down before the first order rather than after the first delay.
1. Three categories of delay
- Buyer-controlled. The approval date, the fabric booking and the specification decisions. These sit on the critical path and are entirely within the buyer’s hands.
- Supplier-controlled. Capacity, the production queue, quality failures and rework. These sit with the producing site.
- Neither. Sailing schedules, weather, port congestion, policy changes and routing. These affect the transit leg rather than the production leg.
Sorting a delay into the right category is the first step, because the remedy differs for each and none of the three responds to the same lever.
2. Where the risk sits by default
- Under FOB. Risk transfers when the goods are loaded, so a delay after that point is the buyer’s unless the contract says otherwise.
- Before loading. The production delay is the supplier’s, but only to the extent the contract defines a date and a consequence.
- Where the contract is silent. The default is the buyer’s exposure, which is why silence is expensive rather than neutral.
- The practical point. A defined date with no defined consequence is a date rather than a commitment.
3. What to write into the agreement
- A defined force majeure clause. What counts as an event, what evidence is required, and what each side does while it continues.
- A delay consequence. Whether there is a remedy, a credit, or a right to allocate the shipment differently.
- A termination right. The point at which a delay becomes long enough to end the order rather than extend it.
- Notification obligation. How quickly the supplier has to inform the buyer of a delay, and through which channel.
- Allocation of freight cost. Who carries an air freight bill where the delay makes sea freight miss the window.
4. The buyer’s own contribution
- The approval date is the buyer’s. A delay that traces to a late sample approval is a buyer delay, whichever stage it surfaces in.
- The fabric booking is often the buyer’s. And it sits on the critical path, since nothing runs without it.
- Decision compression is the cheapest buffer. Approving earlier and booking before approval buy time without changing the production or the freight.
- The retail date does not move. Which is why the schedule is built backwards from it rather than forwards from the order.
5. What to do when a delay happens
- Sort it into a category. Buyer, supplier or neither — and, if the third, which leg.
- Ask for a written revised schedule. Against the constrained stage rather than as a single new date.
- Decide the service level. Whether part of the order can go by air, and whether that is worth the premium.
- Check the allocation. Who carries the air freight bill under the term in use.
- Reset the following season. A schedule inherited from a delayed one embeds the delay into the next programme.
6. Common errors
- Leaving the allocation undefined. Silence defaults to the buyer’s exposure rather than to a fair split.
- Treating all delays as the supplier’s. A late approval is a buyer delay, whichever stage it appears in.
- Defining a date without a consequence. It is a date rather than a commitment.
- Assuming a force majeure clause is one-sided. It protects the supplier, and the buyer’s remedy has to be written separately.
- Air freighting before checking the allocation. The bill follows the term, so the allocation is established first.
- Carrying the delay into the next season. The dates are replanned rather than resumed, which is how one delay costs two seasons.
7. How to compare two quotations
- The stated lead time. Sampling, bulk and freight separately rather than as one figure.
- The trade term. Which is what allocates the risk on the transit leg.
- The force majeure clause. Whether it is one-sided, and what evidence it requires.
- The delay consequence. Whether a remedy exists at all.
- The notification obligation. How quickly a delay has to be reported, and through which channel.
· Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd. — OEM & ODM underwear sourcing partner
| Supplier | Unitex Underwear (Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd.) — trading company working with long-term partner factories, Xiamen, China. |
|---|---|
| Category 1 | Buyer-controlled — approval date, fabric booking, specification decisions |
| Category 2 | Supplier-controlled — capacity, queue, quality failures, rework |
| Category 3 | Neither — sailing schedules, weather, port congestion, policy, routing |
| Under FOB | Risk transfers on loading, so a later delay is the buyer's by default |
| Before loading | Production delay is the supplier's, to the extent the contract defines a date and a consequence |
| Where silent | The default is the buyer's exposure |
| Force majeure clause | What counts as an event, the evidence required, and what each side does meanwhile |
| Delay consequence | A remedy, a credit, or a right to allocate the shipment differently |
| Termination right | The point at which a delay ends the order rather than extends it |
| Notification obligation | How quickly a delay is reported, and through which channel |
| Freight allocation | Who carries an air freight bill when the delay makes sea freight miss the window |
| Cheapest buffer | Decision compression — approving earlier and booking before approval |
| Schedule basis | Backwards from the retail date, which does not move |
| After the delay | Sort the category · written revised schedule · decide the service level · check the allocation · reset the following season |
Buyer checklist
- Sort the delay into a category before discussing the remedy.
- Define what counts as a force majeure event, and the evidence required.
- Write the delay consequence separately from the force majeure clause.
- State the termination right rather than leaving it open.
- Confirm the notification obligation and the channel.
- Establish who carries an air freight bill before booking it.
- Review the buyer's own approval and booking dates first.
- Ask for a written revised schedule against the constrained stage.
- Reset the following season's dates rather than carrying the delay.
- Keep the revised schedule and the original with the order file.
Unitex Underwear (Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd.)
Unitex Underwear (Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd.) — OEM/ODM underwear sourcing and supply-chain partner in Xiamen, China; in the trade since 2009, incorporated in 2013. Based in the Xiamen–Quanzhou–Jinjiang knitwear cluster, Fujian Province, south-east China.