How we work
Ordering Process
From inquiry to delivery: the steps a mineral ingredient order follows.
- MOQ
- Confirmed per product, customer and order
- Payment terms
- Negotiated per customer and order
- Lead time
- Confirmed per order, then committed
- Incoterms
- EXW, FOB and CIF/CFR as standard; DDP per order
Before you write
What a useful first enquiry contains
Nothing has to be complete before you contact us. These are the details that let us answer with the right product and a usable quotation.
- Your company, and the contact we should answer.
- The product name, and the exact product or chemical name if you have it.
- Your own specification, or the mineral content, chemical form and ligand you are working to.
- Expected quantity, and the destination country or delivery address.
- The application the ingredient goes into.
- The documents you need, and whether a sample comes first.
- Packaging, shipping method and Incoterm, if those are already fixed on your side.
A name on its own can cover different contents, chemical forms and quality grades, so the specification is confirmed before sample, price or timing are discussed.
From enquiry to repeat order
How an order moves forward
One path for a catalogue product and for a specification that has to be matched or customised. Each step names what moves the project on.
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Enquiry
Send the product, the quantity and the destination you have in mind. A short first message is enough to start.
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Specification matching
Your specification is compared with ours on identity, mineral content, chemical form, assay and the test items that matter to you. Where it cannot be met as written, the closest standard specification is recommended and the differences are stated.
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Documentation
The standard specification, a representative COA, the TDS, the SDS and the existing public certificates are sent. A batch COA, a stability report and raw test data follow once the product and the batch are defined.
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Sample
The specification is usually confirmed before a sample is arranged; for a screening request the closest standard sample can be sent with the differing specification stated. Standard small samples are free, and the international courier cost of a first sample is carried by the customer.
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Customer testing
Your R&D, QA/QC and regulatory contacts test the sample in your own application: solubility, colour, flowability, stability and behaviour in the finished formulation.
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Approval
Your confirmation that the sample is acceptable, in writing or by message, is recorded as approval and moves the project to the commercial discussion.
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Commercial terms
Quantity, price, packaging, timing, payment, shipping method and Incoterm are agreed together, because each of them changes the price.
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Purchase order
The order becomes effective when your purchase order arrives. It is checked against the quotation and the confirmed specification before anything is produced.
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Production or stock
Production confirms what is possible for this product, specification, quantity, stock, customisation and packaging. A lead time is committed to you only after that confirmation.
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Inspection
Goods are inspected before dispatch and released on the basis confirmed for the order. Heavy metals, microbiology, moisture and ash are among the parameters checked.
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Payment and release
Payment terms are agreed for the order, and release follows the conditions approved for it. Starting production and releasing the goods can be two separate points.
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Logistics
International courier, air freight or sea freight, arranged according to the shipping method and the Incoterm confirmed on your order.
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Delivery
The commercial invoice, the packing information, the shipping documents and the product documents you asked for are checked against the goods actually shipped.
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After-sales and repeat order
Arrival, packaging, quantity, documents and your incoming inspection are followed up, and the next requirement or specification is planned from there.
Specifications
A specification that is not standard
A customer specification is evaluated technically first, before price or timing is discussed.
Where your specification can be met, the custom specification is quoted, sampled and produced to that specification. Where it cannot be met, the closest standard specification is recommended and the differences between the two are stated, so the decision stays with you.
For a screening request, the closest standard sample can be sent with the differing specification stated at the same time, so the difference is known before your own testing begins.
Send the specification you are working to, item by item if you have it. The answer says whether it can be met, or which points differ from the closest standard specification and what the difference means for the order.
Commercial terms
What is agreed per order
These points are settled with each order rather than published as one site-wide rule.
MOQ has no fixed standard. The minimum quantity, the price and the payment terms are agreed for the product, the customer and the order.
Lead time is confirmed by production for the specific product, quantity, stock, customisation and packaging, and is committed to you after that confirmation.
Standard small samples are free of charge, and a new customer covers the international courier. A sample outside the standard range, or one prepared to a specification of your own, is confirmed for the request before it is sent.
The test scope applied to a batch, and who gives the final release, are confirmed for the product and the order. We do not state that every batch is tested on every line of a specification.
Start an enquiry
Start with the product and the destination
Send the product, the specification you are working to and the destination. We will tell you what we can supply, and what we still have to confirm with you.
MOQ, payment terms and lead time are confirmed per product, customer and order.