[flightofone]

From my reading of the rules it seems atypical delays are okay (meaning longer than 5 days) as long as they do not impact the teams ability to complete the robot. In our case, a delay much longer than the expected restocking of Feb 7th will definitely impact our ability to complete the robot. At what point does the part cease becoming COTS? Feb 14th? Feb 21st?

The VENDOR must be normally able to ship any general (i.e., non-FIRST unique) product within five business days of receiving a valid purchase request.

It is recognized that certain unusual circumstances (such as 1,000 FIRST teams all ordering the same part at once fromthe same VENDOR) may cause atypical delays in shipping due to backorders for even thelargest VENDORS. Such delays due to higher-than-normal order rates are excused.
Note that the intent here is to protect the teams against long delays in availability of parts that will impact their ability to complete their ROBOT. The FIRST Robotics Competition build season is only six weeks long, so the VENDOR must be able to get their product, particularly FIRST unique items,
to a team in a timely manner.

...business should maintain sufficient stock or production capability to fill teams orders within a reasonable period during the build season (less than 1 week).