The question is usually asked as though volume were the variable. It is the one people can state precisely, so it becomes the one the timeline gets pinned to. In practice a 10,000-piece run of a standard domestic product can ship sooner than 2,000 of something custom.
Here is what actually moves the date.
The production route
Many standard domestic products can be produced in roughly 10–15 business days after artwork approval. Custom manufacturing, overseas production, custom packaging and high-volume programs take longer — sometimes considerably. This single choice moves the timeline more than any other.
How long approval takes on your side
Nothing is produced before the decorated product is approved, and that clock runs at the client's pace. A proof returned in a day and a proof returned in nine days are a week and a half apart on the same order, and the second is the more common.
If a program has several approvers — a brand team, a department head, procurement — build that in. It is usually the largest recoverable delay in the schedule.
Whether a physical sample is required
A digital proof confirms the artwork. A pre-production sample confirms the actual object. For a large or unfamiliar run the sample is worth the time it costs, because the alternative is discovering the problem at 10,000 units. It does add a cycle.
How many products are in the program
One product at 10,000 units runs on one schedule. Nine products at 5,000 each run on nine, and the program is only finished when the slowest one is. Coordinating that is a large part of why multi-product campaigns take longer than their volume suggests.
Where it has to go
One delivery to one dock is quick. Splitting a run into per-location consignments, cartonising and labelling by destination, and routing to two hundred sites adds handling after production ends. Venue deliveries add their own receiving deadlines, which close earlier than most people expect.
The useful way to ask
Do not ask how long the order takes. Give the date it has to be in hand and ask what that date supports. The answer is more useful, and it arrives before anything has been committed.
Our in-hands date guide covers planning backwards, and bulk merchandise covers how large runs are scheduled.