One of the most important dates in any board game production schedule is the Production Finished date. But there is sometimes some confusion about what this term and date actually mean. Production Finished means exactly that: your games have been produced, assembled and packed, and are ready to be shipped. In a nutshell, they are sitting in the Boda Games warehouse waiting for the next action. What it does not mean is that they are already on a vessel (ship) that has departed the port and is heading for a destination across the ocean.

There are still several steps between finishing production and the vessel actually departing, and the time needed for these steps can vary considerably from one shipment to another.

What Happens Next?

Once we finish production is when the next part, the shipping process, starts.

If you are using your own freight forwarder, they need to contact us to arrange the shipment and pick up the goods (collection). This would be considered ExWorks (EXW) incoterms. Sometimes this happens immediately because everything has already been arranged in advance. In other cases, several days can pass before we are contacted by the freight forwarder and receive the booking information.

If Boda Games is arranging the freight on your behalf, once we have a firm shipping date and the shipping destination is confirmed, we contact our logistics partners to arrange the shipment. However, this does not necessarily mean there is a suitable vessel available immediately. Depending on the destination and current shipping schedules, the next available booking can sometimes be a week or more away.

Once a booking has been made, the games still need to be collected from our factory and transported domestically to the port or warehouse. For Boda Games, that normally means they will go to the port of Ningbo and sometimes to the port of Shanghai. The shipment then needs to meet the required cut-off, go through the necessary export and port procedures, and be loaded onto the vessel. It is after all of this that the vessel actually departs.

To summarize the process:

Production Finished → Freight Booking → Collection → Domestic Transport → Port Handling → Vessel Loading → Vessel Departure

Why Two Games Finished on the Same Day Can Ship a Week or More Apart

Below are two simplified examples of the process explained above. In both cases, production was finished on exactly the same day.

Example 1: Everything Is Arranged Early

The freight forwarder has already been in contact with us prior to finishing the games and a suitable sailing available.

• Day 0: Production Finished
• Day 1: Booking confirmed
• Day 2–3: Collection and transport to port
• Day 4–6: Port handling and loading
• Day 7: Vessel departure

In this example, the games are on their way about a week after production finishes.

Example 2: Shipping Is Arranged Afterwards

Production is finished, but the freight arrangements have not yet been finalized. It takes several days to arrange the booking, or the next suitable vessel does not have availability until the following week.

• Day 0: Production Finished
• Day 1–5: Freight arrangements and booking
• Day 6–7: Collection
• Day 8–9: Transport to port
• Day 10–13: Port handling and loading
• Day 14: Vessel departure

The games were finished on exactly the same day as in the first example, but the vessel departs a week later.

These are only examples. Actual timelines depend on the shipment, destination, forwarder and available sailings. But the purpose is to show the variation that can occur between the production finished date and vessel departure date. This is why they should always be treated as two separate milestones and planned for accordingly.

Start Planning Your Freight Early

The good news is that together we can work to minimize this delay. We highly recommend not to wait until production is finished before you start arranging your freight.

If you are using your own freight forwarder, ask them to contact us before the Production Finished date. If Boda Games is arranging the shipment, let us know your shipping requirements early so that we can start looking at the available options. The earlier the shipping arrangements are discussed, the better the chance that a suitable booking can be lined up with the completion of production and we can minimize the dead time between production being finished and the vessel departing from the port.

Having said that, there will always be parts of international shipping that cannot be completely controlled. Vessel schedules change, space can be limited and port cut-offs need to be met. But planning ahead can prevent unnecessary days being added simply because the shipping process only started after the games were already finished.

We recommend to start planning your freight earlier than you think you need to.