Careful, careful, careful. The client asks for some A-286 round bar....no spec, just A-286.

You get a price from Fry for material to AMS 5732, the most common spec available for A-286. You win the order.

The purchase order comes in and in the small print, which you can easily miss, the customer calls for AMS 5737 - Aged material.

Rejection.....and oh by the way, Fry cut the stock in half for UPS so, you own it.

There are many ways this sort of thing can play out - pitfalls galore but here is the ONLy way around it.

When an order comes in for a non-stock item, a hard and fast procedure must be followed. Send the order through and get an acknowledgement copy with a spot in the body for a client to review and accept it.

DO NOT order the metal from your supplier until and unless you get a signed copy back from the customer.

EVEN IF the customer is in a super rush for the metal, do not skip this step and make sure that the order acknowledgement clearly states the material, specification, size, tolerance and shipping promise....every detail that could cause confusion down the road.

MAKE SURE that the customer knows that until you get that signed copy back, you cannot accept the order or start the clock for your delivery promise.