Window lead times from China: a week-by-week breakdown

What determines the window lead time

Three clocks make up the total, and they run in sequence. The drawing phase: the quotation, the shop drawings and the approval of both, which sits in front of production. Production: the window itself, quoted at 30–45 days on the standard lines, 40–50 days on the timber-faced range and 45–55 days on the acoustic line. Freight: 30–45 days of ocean by coast, or 7–14 days by air for urgent samples and parts.

The production clock does not start from the order. It starts from approved shop drawings and the deposit. A factory that quotes a lead time from the order without naming the starting point is quoting a number with no anchor, and that is the first red flag to check on any schedule you are given.

Week by week: how the schedule actually runs

The phases below are the standard run for an order of a normal scale. Every phase has an owner, and the phase the buyer fully controls is the drawing loop.

• Weeks 0–1 — Commercial: a complete inquiry returns a unit-by-unit quotation within 24 hours. Shop drawings are free and come within three working days of approved architectural drawings. Finish chips ship with the quotation, and the order is confirmed against a 50% deposit.
• Weeks 1–6 — Production: profiles, thermal break, coating, glass, hardware, assembly and the quality gate all sit inside the quoted 30–45 day window on the standard lines. The timber-faced range takes 40–50 days and the acoustic line 45–55.
• Weeks 6–7 — Inspection and packing: the pre-shipment inspection with its photo report, then crating, desiccant, the per-crate packing list and the loading report. The balance of 50% is called against the inspection report, before the container closes.
• Weeks 7–12 — Ocean: 30–45 days by coast on the main lanes, with the container loading at 40HQ consolidation across ranges. On a DDP order the duty and the delivery are inside the number; on FOB or CIF the ocean leg is the last of the factory scope.
• Destination — Customs and site: clearance and delivery from the port vary by country and by import mode, and on a DDP order they are part of the schedule the factory owes.

The packing sequence inside the container belongs to that phase as well. The units load against a sequence, and the loading report is what the destination team uses to confirm the order on arrival; it is the piece of evidence to ask for, ahead of a photo of the closed container. The container-loading note covers how the units actually pack, where the sequence is not obvious from the drawings.

Lead time by line, on the current range

The production window differs by line because the glass build and the coating process differ by line. The schedule a quotation carries is the one for the specific lines it names.

How buyers shorten the schedule without cutting quality

Every day of lead time is either a specification decision or a drawing decision. The shortenings that actually work:

• Send a complete inquiry — opening schedule, glass build per opening, finish, destination port — because that is the version that returns a firm quotation in 24 hours instead of a round of corrections.
• Keep the finish on a standard RAL and the glass on a standard build; custom colours and asymmetric acoustic units are quoted on their own, longer windows.
• Approve the shop drawings quickly. The production clock starts from approval, and the drawing loop is the one phase the buyer fully controls.
• Phase large orders across containers, with the first phase of the building in the first container. The site can start while the rest is in production.
• Hold air freight for the urgent items it is good at — samples and replacement parts, 7–14 days. A full window by air is not the standard route and is not what this schedule assumes.

What pushes a schedule out

The delays are the same on every factory, but they are named differently. The ones that matter:

• The timber-faced range: 40–50 days, because the timber face is worked at its own pace and does not follow the aluminium clock.
• The acoustic line: 45–55 days, because the asymmetric laminated units of 24–42 mm carry a lamination and curing step the standard glazing does not.
• The large-format fixed line: 30–55 days, because the single-pane size sets the glass schedule.
• Drawing changes after production has started: re-cut profiles or re-built glass restart part of the clock, which is why the shop drawing approval is the hard point in the schedule.
• A production queue at order time: the quoted lead time is the schedule for that order once the slot is confirmed, and a slot is what is being booked when the deposit is paid.

If the schedule slips, what you should see first

A slipped schedule should come with the phase named, not just the number. A factory that is behind on the coating line, the glass or the quality gate can say which, and the pre-shipment photo report is the first physical evidence of where the order actually is. Ask for the revised schedule against the named phase, and hold the loading report as the point at which the container is closed. The numbers that move without a phase attached are the ones to push back on.

It is also the moment the commercial terms get tested. A schedule that slips with the phase named is a working schedule; one that slips with only a number is a schedule being managed, and the distinction is why the phase name belongs in every update, not just the first quotation.