What support means at a desk
A directory forwards your message to a factory and disappears. A desk carries the program between orders as well as during them, because most of what a buyer needs is not production capacity - it is information kept current, documents kept accurate and dates kept honest. The six areas below run on both routes: stock programs bought by the carton and OEM programs built to a spec sheet.
Support is also where the two routes hand over to each other. A stock buyer who finds a style that sells needs it converted to an OEM program with labels the next season; an OEM buyer waiting on bulk needs stock cartons to cover the gap. The desk sees both sides of those handovers, which is why the support areas are the same either way - only the clock changes.
Live list access
The stock list changes as cartons ship, which makes last month's catalog a liability. The desk works from the live list - the models, colors and size runs actually on hand - and confirms it in writing at RFQ, so a program is planned against real quantities instead of a snapshot. When a model runs out mid-program, the reply names the closest alternatives from the same category rather than leaving a gap. The list and its limits are described in the stock route, and the structure of a first order in the lot buying guide.
Spec writing
On the OEM route, the spec sheet is the program: the document the factory quotes against, samples to, and gets inspected by. The desk writes it from your brief - materials, construction, size grid, packing, labels, carton marking - and sends it back for approval before sampling starts. You do not need to know how to write one; you need to know what you want, and the desk turns that into the factory's language. What belongs in the document is laid out in the spec sheet template, and the route around it in the OEM guide.
Label checks
Labels fail programs in boring ways: a material percentage that does not match the spec, a missing origin statement, a carton marking the warehouse cannot read. The desk drafts and checks label copy against the confirmed spec before bulk, and settles carton marking before sealing, when a correction costs a conversation instead of a repack. What US labels must carry - and what stays with your broker - is mapped in the compliance page.
Test planning
Where a channel needs material test reports or children's product testing, the work is calendar work: which tests, at which kind of lab, in which week of the schedule. The desk plans lab time into the program, sequences it with production, and verifies reports by certificate or report number per program - the desk never claims certificates of its own. For kids' programs this is the difference between a schedule and a surprise, because lab work discovered late costs weeks.
Reorder management
The second order is where a desk earns its keep. Send what sold and at which sizes; the desk reconfirms against the live list for stock, proposes substitutes where a model has run out, or reopens the same OEM platform with size-run corrections built in. Timing is part of the service: reorders placed before the peak-season squeeze keep the reference lead times realistic, and ones placed after it do not. The ranges are in MOQ and lead time, and season planning in planning footwear season orders.
Warehouse and marketplace prep
Many buyers ship straight into a marketplace or distributor warehouse, and those operations have conventions: how cartons are marked, where the size run sits, what the box label must carry, how mixed models are flagged. The desk sets that in the packing spec before sealing - your channel's rules, written on the program sheet, no improvisation at the dock. It is a small task done early and an expensive one done late, and it is the same packing discipline the OEM route uses for branded programs, minus the branding. Pallet notes and inner-box counts follow the same rule: whatever your channel needs printed, stuffed or stacked is written once, on the program sheet.
Support at a glance
| Area | What the desk does | What you provide |
|---|---|---|
| Live list | Confirms current models, colors and size runs at RFQ | Category and size needs |
| Spec sheet | Writes materials, construction, sizes, packing, labels | Brief, references, target date |
| Labels | Drafts and checks label copy against the spec | Label text and artwork |
| Tests | Plans lab time; verifies reports by number | Your channel's requirements |
| Reorders | Reconfirms against the live list; tracks timing | Sell-through by size |
| Warehouse prep | Sets carton marking and packing before sealing | Marking rules of your channel |
The reorder cycle
- Sell-through notes. You send what moved, at which sizes and colors.
- Reconfirmation. The desk checks the live list or the OEM platform and proposes the reorder plan.
- Confirmation in writing. Quantities, packing, marking and the dispatch or production date.
- Pick or produce. Stock is picked on confirmation; OEM runs to the approved sample.
- Check and dispatch. Cartons verified against the program sheet before they seal.
Between orders
Program records stay with the desk: the spec sheets, the approved samples on file, the packing decisions, the inspection results. The next order starts from history instead of from scratch, which is most of what makes the second program faster than the first. Replies go out in writing, usually within two working days, and questions that cannot be answered yet come back with what is still open. If a range plan is taking shape, send it with the request form and the first reply will name the route, the list or sampling plan, and the decisions waiting on you.