Express branded merchandise: how to meet a tight deadline

Start by noting the date on which the products must be handed out, then the date by which they must reach you to be unpacked and shared out among the teams. It is this second date that serves as the reference for everything that follows.

Next, sort things out. In a rushed order, each additional item adds a file to prepare, a proof to check and a lead time to verify. Ask yourself what is essential for the deadline, and what can wait for a second order placed at a calmer pace. A single well-chosen product, handed out on time, serves your image better than an ambitious selection delivered the day after the event.

Also lighten the marking: a single area and a single colour reduce the checkpoints and the risk of correction. Simple artwork, your logo alone, is approved more quickly than a composition loaded with slogans and mentions.

Each item in the catalogue has its own production time, shown on its page and repeated on the quote. When time is short, this is the first filter to apply, even before aesthetics: compare several product pages in the same family and select those whose production leaves a reasonable margin before your date.

Some products also offer express production, flagged in the catalogue. For these items, the express production lead time replaces the usual lead time. You will find them grouped in the express production selection of the catalogue. Keep two limits in mind, however:

• this selection does not cover the whole catalogue, and there is not necessarily an express equivalent for the specific product you had in mind;
• express only applies to production: preparing the file, approving the proof and delivery still need to be built into your schedule.

If the ideal product is not there, look for an item similar in spirit rather than forcing an unrealistic schedule.

In an urgent order, lost time rarely hides in the workshop. It evaporates upstream, looking for the right version of the logo. Even before choosing the product, gather:

• your logo in vector format, with text converted to outlines;
• your Pantone references if the marking is in solid colours;
• a flat version, stripped of gradients and shadows.

Upload this file to the configurator as early as possible: the automatic check immediately flags a problem with resolution, colours or overflow of the area, instead of you discovering it after the order. If you do not know how to recognise a compliant file, our guide to the vector logo file explains what to do. Having our studio rework your artwork remains possible, but it adds a step: when every moment counts, it is better to do without it.

Production only starts once the proof has been approved. Every moment it waits in an inbox therefore pushes back delivery by the same amount. This is the most powerful lever you have, and it depends only on your organisation:

• A single person approves, appointed before the order and available when the proof arrives.
• The criteria are set in advance: logo, colour, position, quantities. The choice of product is not reopened at this stage.
• Comments are grouped in a single message if a correction is needed, rather than going back and forth.

Our team checks every print before manufacturing, even for an urgent order: this check is included and secures a tricky marking. If your date is tight, mention your deadline when ordering. Urgent or not, read the proof carefully: a mistake approved in haste can no longer be put right once production has started.

Splitting parcels between several sites multiplies shipments and the risk that one of them will be delayed. For a tight deadline, have everything delivered to a single address, the one where the products will be used or from which they will be sent on, and give a recipient who will be present to receive it. Check that this address is complete in your customer account before ordering: an incomplete address alone can hold up a parcel.

The tracking is sent to you by e-mail on dispatch: pass it on to the person receiving the parcel. Also bear in mind that delivery depends on the carriers and may slow down during busy periods or around public holidays. All the steps are described on the lead times and delivery page.

Sometimes no combination allows delivery on time. Rather than placing an order and hoping everything goes well, write to contact@vektoprint.com specifying the product you have in mind, the quantity and the date by which you need the products. We will tell you frankly what is realistic, without promising a date we could not meet.

Several fallback solutions exist: choosing another product with a shorter production time, reducing the order to what is essential for the deadline, or handing out the branded items after the event, for example in a thank-you mailing to the contacts you met. And for next time, our guide to the production lead time for promotional products helps you build a reverse schedule that avoids urgency.