In short
When a qualification falls behind, tell the customer the same day, in writing, with three things: what happened, what you are doing about it, and the date you now expect. Customers forgive a delay they were told about; they move their business after one they discovered.
Why does timing matter more than the delay?
The customer has their own schedule built on your sign-off date. A week's notice lets them re-plan. No notice means their launch slips and they learn they cannot rely on your dates.
What should the note contain?
Keep it to facts:
- What moved: which lot or milestone, and by how much.
- Why, as far as it is known.
- The recovery plan: for example, re-sequencing the remaining lots.
- The date you now expect, and when you will confirm it.
Why is it usually late?
The factory system shows the lot is behind, and the account owner does not watch the factory system. Nobody is hiding anything; the two simply never meet until the shipment misses.
How Tymeline handles it
Tymeline raises the alarm the day the data misses the plan, proposes a recovery, and drafts the customer note for the account owner to review and send. It drafts; a person sends.