Contract Manufacturer Quotes 6-Week Lead Time With Straight Face

In a performance colleagues are calling “the finest of his career,” contract manufacturing account manager Brent Szabo told a new client Wednesday that their 50,000-bottle capsule run would ship in six weeks, maintaining eye contact and a neutral expression throughout.

“Six weeks from PO, assuming raw materials are in stock,” said Szabo, who knew with total certainty that raw materials were not in stock, the encapsulation line was booked through the second quarter of next year, and the bottle supplier had stopped returning emails in August.

Witnesses in the conference room said they did not detect a single tell. “No blinking, no smirk, nothing,” said sales coordinator Tami Ruckert. “He even wrote it on the whiteboard. In marker. Permanent marker.”

The client, a first-time brand owner, reportedly thanked him and began planning a launch date, an act 30-year industry veteran Lou Fanelli described as “beautiful, in a way.”

Sources inside the facility confirmed that the six-week estimate follows the company’s standard formula, in which the actual lead time is calculated by taking the quoted lead time, multiplying it by four, and adding a holiday.

At press time, Szabo had moved on to quoting a “rush” option of four weeks, for twice the price, which will arrive in 26.