"Recently, while working on a new design for a complex computer hardware system, I ran into some issues related to collecting specifications I needed for some of the components from the vendor. I repeatedly contacted the vendor requesting the information without any response. Once my contact responded to me, they apologized, noting that they were out of the office and did not put a backup contact on their voicemail and email. I learned from this that when I do not get the information I need from a vendor, I should contact other individuals within the organization. I also make it a point to set up secondary and tertiary contacts for each of my suppliers to prevent this same thing from recurring."
