SSCI Policies

We want our customers to be satisfied with their purchases from SSCI. Our sixty years of experience in manufacturing veterinary equipment has helped us develop procedures to provide accurate communications with our customers.

Your SSCI salesperson will discuss with you, your individual equipment needs and plans. The SSCI salesperson will then prepare a detailed proposal for your review and approval. This proposal will include the products you’ve selected, with their manufacturing lead times, the shipping method, the shipping payment terms, and the product payment terms. This proposal will also list which SSCI Customer Order Requirements are to be completed by the customer. If changes are required to the proposal, contact your SSCI salesperson and discuss your changes. The SSCI salesperson will prepare a new proposal, to meet your requirements.

Accepted proposals will be acknowledged with a Sales Agreement. A copy of the Sales Agreement will be sent to the customer. Please note; Made-to-Order products cannot be cancelled or changed, if engineering and/or manufacturing has started, without additional cost to the customer.

The following are explanations of the various Customer Order Requirements. Your proposal will list which of the following Customer Order Requirements will apply to your order.

Specify Laminate & Color

Required for proposals including laminated products

Specify Drawer / Door Pulls

Required for proposals including laminated cabinetry

Specify Earliest Date Customer Can Receive Products

This is the earliest date your facility will be ready to receive the ordered products. This date is necessary for SSCI to schedule a shipping window for your order. For more information about The Shipping Window, please see below.

Customer specifies the Earliest Shipping Date when ordering products:

Provide the Earliest Shipping Date to SSCI at time of order. This is typical for existing facilities or when construction has progressed to the point where customer is sure that the products can be received on or after that date.

Customer does not specify the Earliest Shipping Date when ordering products:

SSCI will accept an order without an Earliest Shipping Date Customer Can Receive Merchandise. This is typical prior to, and in the early stages of, remodeling or new construction. The order will be processed and prices will be locked in, but SSCI cannot establish a Shipping Window until the customer advises SSCI of their Earliest Shipping Date Customer Can Receive Merchandise. It is customer’s responsibility to advise SSCI of the Earliest Shipping Date Customer Can Receive Merchandise soon enough to allow adequate time for SSCI’s manufacturing lead times.

Provide Payment

Amount required to begin manufacturing

Provide Confirmed Irrevocable Commercial Letter of Credit

Required for all international orders

Provide Purchase Order

Required only for orders where the customer’s procedures require a Purchase Order Number for receiving products and payment of invoices.

Read and understand SSCI’s Freight Receiving Procedures

Included on all proposals are the procedures to receive and inspect your freight to protect you in the unlikely event of shipping damage or shortages.

Approve Approval Drawing(s)

Required for proposals with laminated products, cage arrangements, animal pens, cabinet arrangements, prep / procedure / treatment centers, etc.

Your approval drawings are an exact illustration of your products and how it will be arranged. These drawings insure that we provide the appropriate hardware to assemble our products into your desired configuration. It is critical that you review these drawings to insure the design, dimensions, laminate colors, drawer & door configurations, etc., will all meet your needs. If there is anything you do not understand, or that is not suitable for your needs, please do not sign these drawings. Contact your SSCI representative to discuss any needed changes or revisions.

Approve Proposal

Indicates that the proposal is acceptable and the customer agrees with all products proposed, Customer Order Requirements and terms and conditions.

Shipping Window

The Shipping Window is established after you satisfy all required Customer Order Requirements for your order, including Earliest Date Customer Can Receive Product.

The Shipping Window is the days between customer-specified Earliest Date Customer Can Receive Product and The Latest Shipping Date assigned by SSCI. SSCI reserves the right to ship the products anytime within the Shipping Window.

There are four situations which determine The Shipping Window:

Customer knows the Earliest Shipping Date when ordering products:

Situation 1 - Customer satisfies all required Customer Order Requirements for the order and can receive product immediately. In this situation, the Shipping Window will be determined by the longest manufacturing lead time of the products ordered, establishing the Latest Shipping Date.

Situation 2 - Customer satisfies all required Customer Order Requirements for the order and does not want to receive product until a future date that is longer than the longest manufacturing lead time of the products ordered. In this situation, The Latest Shipping Date will be the same day as the Earliest Date Customer Can Receive Product - A Shipping Window is not required, because the sufficient manufacturing lead time was built into the Earliest Date Customer Can Receive Product.

Customer does not know the Earliest Shipping Date when ordering products:

Situation 3 - Customer satisfies all required Customer Order Requirements for the order except customer has not satisfied Earliest Date Customer Can Receive Product. In this situation, the Shipping Window cannot be established until the customer advises SSCI of Earliest Date Customer Can Receive Product. Customer advises SSCI, allowing a minimum of time required for the longest manufacturing lead time of the products ordered. In this situation, The Latest Shipping Date will be the same day as the Earliest Date Customer Can Receive Product - A Shipping Window is not required, because the sufficient manufacturing lead time was built into the Earliest Date Customer Can Receive Product.

Situation 4 - Customer satisfies all required Customer Order Requirements for the order except customer has not satisfied Earliest Date Customer Can Receive Product. In this situation, the Shipping Window cannot be established until the customer advises SSCI of Earliest Date Customer Can Receive Product. Customer advises SSCI, not allowing a minimum of time required for the longest manufacturing lead time of the products ordered. In this situation, The Shipping Window will be determined by the longest manufacturing lead time of the products ordered, establishing the Latest Shipping Date.

IMPORTANT

If you are unable to accept delivery of your order during the established shipping window:

If you postpone shipment of the products within the Shipping Window, before the products have shipped and after SSCI has begun manufacturing the products, SSCI will defer the shipment for up to 5 days. After 5 days, SSCI will place the products in storage and invoice the customer for the products. At the time the customer requests the products to ship, SSCI will ship the products and invoice the customer for the storage charges.

If the products have been shipped and you cannot receive the products, you will have to make arrangements to store the products. If you put the products into temporary storage, you should follow SSCI’s Recommended Merchandise Receiving Procedures. If you wait to inspect the products until they are removed from storage, there can be no freight claims filed.