Replying to Who knows the quickest way to get replacement buckles?

This is a problem I'm faced at least once a year. I break a buckle, head into my local shop and the best they can do is sort through a parts bin and hope that they can jerry-rig something together. When this doesn't work, the arduous process of contacting the manufacturer begins, typically waiting 3 to 4 weeks before new buckles arrive. Broken buckles are a fairly common occurrence, especially if you work on the mountain, yet there remains to be a good system in place for getting replacements. Bike shops on the other hand are able to order any part you could ever need fairly quickly. Minuscule pieces required to rebuild a shock damper show up in a matter of days. For those of you who work in shops can you please enlighten me on why this process is such a pain in the ass.
Cheers.