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A.S.A.P. or URGENT
2

A.S.A.P. or URGENT

A.S.A.P. or URGENT

(OP)
Sometimes I receive requests with ASAP and sometimes with URGENT. This most probably is because ASAP has lost its efectivness and people are using something else to get you to process their request before any other.
What do you use?

Joe Borg
www.methode-eur.com

RE: A.S.A.P. or URGENT

May I suggest: For prompt action, for immediate attention, swiftly, expediency requested ?
I'm sure there are other suggested phrases that may be workable.

RE: A.S.A.P. or URGENT

Urgent, conveys a sense of, well, Urgency. (bear with me)
As Soon As Possible would come after "Urgent"...as soon as I can possibly get to it after my other pressing "Urgent" requirements.

In Aerospace we have "AOG" (heaven help us).
Originally "AOG" was used as "Aircraft On Ground"...waiting on this part to taxi out and fly.
However, here in the Repair Station Business, everything comes in "AOG". Purchasing departments of Airlines abuse the "AOG" catagory of required expediancy regularly.
Almost everything we receive is tagged "AOG". Well, the Aircraft is really On the Ground, but it couldn't fly on a billion dollar bet!
Sometimes they even follow up with a phone call saying that this one really is "AOG", because the Aircraft comes out of rework in 2 weeks and we will be waiting for this part for the check flight. Their "AOG" comes from scheduling, and all of the parts not actually on the shelf ready for installation become "AOG".
What they really mean is, we have spent so much time looking for the lowest price that 3 of the 4 weeks required for turnaround are gone and we have to get it back in a week so we don't look incompetent. So, "AOG" it is!

RE: A.S.A.P. or URGENT

I think "urgent" would have a higher priority than ASAP.

rerig, at my company when work orders for parts are made, sometimes a "Hot" sticker is tacked onto the work order to set it as priority.  Over the years everything now gets a "Hot" sticker, and sometimes you'll see 2, 3 or more stickers plastered on a single work order, meaning we need it now.

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

RE: A.S.A.P. or URGENT

I just put a due date on it.  Sometimes that date is in the past.

RE: A.S.A.P. or URGENT

Tick--exactly!!  You need a date (and subtract time off that date to allow for inevitable lateness).  Everything is urgent, otherwise.  We've asked people sending in submittals to give us an idea of when they really need the response by.  If they toss us enough non-urgent bones, we start to accept the "urgents" better.  But "we'll need to get this girder out of the way by Thursday" is much more useful than "urgent".

In situations where I can get away with it, I use ASAFP.  Or "last week sometime".  I can't say it's helped me any--by the time I'm that desperate, it's because I'm dealing with cruel and heartless people who have ignored all my prior pleas.

Hg

RE: A.S.A.P. or URGENT

Being a literalist, I prefer it when people give me stuff marked "ASAP".

When they call to find out why they haven't gotten a reply yet, is simply tell them "I'm sorry, it hasn't been possible for me to get to that yet."

If I have a specific due date I make a reasonable effort to get it done by that date.

RE: A.S.A.P. or URGENT

When I've had to provide deadlines by which I need a response, in order to submit certain information, I've given a deadline some days before I really need it, to allow for those who are supposed to respond to get their information to me (generally all in a hurry because they think they are late).  I never let anyone know what my drop-dead due date is.  (It creates an illusion that I'm not easily ruffled.)  As a culture (maybe as a species), we don't seem to work well without a deadline.

RE: A.S.A.P. or URGENT

Since we're usually inundated with emails and cc's to emails that we don't care about, I usually find that a phone call or actually walking over to the other persons desk does the job.  Particularly if I show up to the point that they'd love to get rid of me.

RE: A.S.A.P. or URGENT

Yep.  When I want to hide something in plain site from my boss, I email it.  He knows it, too.

RE: A.S.A.P. or URGENT

Some purchasing software spits out the default due date as the same day that the order is written (or 1 week, or 2 weeks). Purchasing officers get lazy and eventually no one believes the due date.

Urgent and asap mean much the same to me unless someone actually phones or emails to discuss the problem.

Jeff

RE: A.S.A.P. or URGENT

Purchasing ignores the due date anyway, as well as the notes!

I agree w/ MintJulep - if you need it by the 12th, tell us!

Thought for the day -
The first half of any project consumes the first 90% of the resources
The second half consumes the other 90%

Keep the wheels on the ground
Bob
showshine@aol.com

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