# Material Delivery Schedule: Catch Supplier Delays

Source: https://maito.app/workflows/warn-when-a-supplier-delay-hits-the-schedule

When a supplier email moves a delivery date, Maito compares it with your need-by date and posts the conflict and booked costs in Slack.

A supplier's new delivery date is checked against when the crew needs the material, and conflicts are flagged straight away.

[Operations](https://maito.app/workflows/team/operations) · [Construction](https://maito.app/workflows/industry/construction) · When something happens · Updated October 19, 2026

Works with

-   Slack
-   Email
-   Gmail
-   Microsoft 365
-   Superhuman Mail
-   [Airtable](https://maito.app/workflows/tool/airtable)
-   Box
-   Dropbox
-   Notion

## How do you catch a supplier delay before it hits the schedule?

To catch a supplier delay before it hits the schedule, send supplier emails to a shared inbox. Maito reads each date change, compares it with the need-by date in your PO register, notes crew and equipment already booked, flags vague wording like a ship date, and posts the conflict in Slack.

## How it's done today

The project manager learns about a delay after the crew and crane are booked.

## What Maito does

1.  Read the supplier's confirmed date
2.  Compare with the need-by date
3.  Flag conflicts and cost exposure
4.  Ask for a decision on sequence

## Example

Loop run: Supplier email in orders@northstar.example

**Maito** (11:02 AM):

Acme Lumber changed PO-4471 (LVL beams, $6,240). New date: Oct 29, was Oct 22.

**Need-by:** Oct 26, when level 2 framing starts. That's 3 days short.  
**Booked:** crane on Oct 26 at $1,850 per day, framing crew of 5.

**Catch:** the email says 'ship date Oct 29', not delivery. With 2 to 3 days in transit, the beams could arrive Nov 1.

From the supplier's email, the PO register and the project schedule. Options for you: resequence level 1 interior work, move the crane, or ask Acme about a partial shipment. I haven't changed any dates.

**Jess** (11:08 AM):

Ask Acme if it's delivery or shipping and whether they can split the order.

**Maito** (11:09 AM):

Draft is ready in your inbox. It asks for the delivery date in writing and whether half the beams can go out by Oct 22. Nothing sends until you approve.

## How to set it up

When something happens Warn when a supplier delay hits the schedule

Ask your agent

“When a supplier email in orders@northstar.example changes a delivery date, compare it with the need-by date in the PO register and post any conflict in #harbor-street.”

Connect email

-   Gmail
-   Microsoft 365
-   Superhuman Mail

Connect spreadsheet

-   Airtable
-   Microsoft 365

Connect files

-   Google Drive
-   Box
-   Dropbox
-   Notion
-   Microsoft 365

Not connected yet? Your agent sends you a link to sign in.

## What it won't do

It knows only what the email, register and schedule say. It cannot know a supplier's real transit time unless it is written down.

## Questions

### Where does it read dates from?

Supplier email in Gmail or Microsoft 365, the PO register in Airtable or Microsoft 365, and the schedule in Google Drive, Box, Dropbox, Notion or Microsoft 365.

### Does it change the schedule?

No. It lists options, and you decide. It changes no dates.

### Can it ask the supplier a question?

It drafts the email, for example to ask for a written delivery date, and sends it after you approve.

## More operations workflows

-   [Chase missing inputs Ask people for what's missing, by Slack or email, until it's in. Operations · On a schedule Works with Gmail, Microsoft 365, Airtable.](https://maito.app/workflows/chase-missing-inputs)
-   [Monday report from connected tools The weekly operating report built from the tools you already use. Operations · On a schedule Works with BigQuery, Supabase, Intercom, Pylon, Stripe, PayPal.](https://maito.app/workflows/monday-report-from-connected-tools)
-   [Turn a process into a written guide Describe how something is done and get a clean step-by-step guide. Operations · When you ask Works with Slack, Email.](https://maito.app/workflows/turn-a-process-into-a-written-guide)
-   [Keep a shared spreadsheet clean Fix formats, fill gaps and flag odd rows in a sheet everyone edits. Operations · On a schedule Works with Airtable, Microsoft 365.](https://maito.app/workflows/keep-a-shared-spreadsheet-clean)
-   [Book travel within policy Get flight and hotel options that fit the travel policy. Operations · When you ask Works with Slack, Email.](https://maito.app/workflows/book-travel-within-policy)
-   [Answer "who owns this?" Find the right person or team for any system, process or question. Operations · When you ask Works with Slack, Email.](https://maito.app/workflows/answer-who-owns-this)

[See all workflows](https://maito.app/workflows)

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