When it comes to running a business, time is money. That's why many businesses are looking for ways to save time and ease the process of ordering inventory, managing orders, and so on. Setting up configurable scheduled dates and lead times can help you do just that! 

Using several commitment dates not only organizes your business process, but it also increases customer service and consumer confidence. When your customers know they can rely on you to deliver on time, they can better organize their own operations and are more inclined to reorder from you.

This article provides an overview of what these features in CommerceCore™ are, how they work, and how they can help your company be punctual in its commitments.

Why managing lead times is important for your business?

A well-planned timetable is essential in business. To deliver the finest possible service to your consumers, you must meticulously prepare every action.

CommerceCore™ assists you in planning and coordinating numerous company activities.

You can regulate your process by scheduling dates for everything from supplier orders through manufacturing schedules and deliveries.

Lead times are a safeguard to guarantee that you don't miss a deadline. You provide the number of days you believe are required to complete a procedure. The amount of lead days for each step might vary.

Fortunately, you don't even need to be an expert in calculating manufacturing lead time or other lead times.

CommerceCore™ estimates the lead times for each step (manufacturing, purchasing, and shipping) and provides you with a date. That date is known as a Commitment Date, and it is the day on which you can assure your clients that they will get their products.

CommerceCore™ allows you to schedule accurately and automatically. With the aid of lead times, you can provide your consumers with an exact estimate of when they will get their items. The dates account for supplier lead times, production, and delivery.

This is a quick procedure because you only need to put up lead times once to correctly plan delivery.

Configurable Lead-Time Settings in CommerceCore™

There are several types of lead times in CommerceCore™. Each is calculated based on various indicators. Before going through the configuration, here is a brief summary of how lead times are calculated and what they are:

Customer Lead Time

This is he start to finish length of time it should take for the product to be shipped to the customer. The customer lead time is the default duration you set. Therefore, the expected date on the sales orders is today + customer lead time.

Sales Security Lead Time

This is the pre-configured time padding that would allow for delays anywhere in the process. The purpose is to be ready shipping that many days before the actual commitment taken with the customer. Then, the default scheduled date on the delivery order is SO delivery date - Security Lead Time.

Purchase Security Lead Time

Extra time to reduce the possibility of a vendor delay. To account for unanticipated vendor delays, the receipt will be scheduled that many days early. In the event of a Replenish to Order, the default Receipt planned date will be the Delivery order scheduled date - Security lead time for purchase.

Purchase Delivery Lead Time

This is the estimated time between the confirmation of a purchase order and the arrival of the requested merchandise. The default Purchase Order By date is the Receipt planned date - Vendor delivery date.

Days to Purchase

It shows the number of days the purchasing department takes to validate a purchase order. If another request for quotation to the same vendor is already opened, CommerceCore™ adds the line to the request for quotation instead of creating a new one. Then, the specific date is set on the line.

Manufacturing Lead Time

This is the expected time it takes to manufacture a product. This lead time is independent of the quantity to produce and does not take the routing time into account.

Production Security Lead Time

It shows the amount of extra time to reduce the possibility of a manufacturing delay. 

Sales - Lead times

When you create a New order, there’s an Other Information tab on the form. Commitment Date is the date that you tell the customer they’ll receive your products.

This field is automatically set based on whether you have lead times defined or not.

If you don’t have any lead time, the Commitment Date is set on the same day that you confirmed the sale order.

If you choose a lead time, the date will be determined depending on the days you specify. So, if you have a 10-day client lead time, the commitment date will shift from now to 10 days from now.

Inventory - Lead times

To manage Inventory, do the following in the Inventory app:

• Go to the Settings page

• Locate Security Lead Time for Sales and Security Lead Time for Purchase

• Tick the boxes

• Insert the number of lead days in each option

Don’t forget to save.

To execute the shipment, these security times will be available in the Inventory app. The date determined under the Scheduled Date column is the Commitment Date minus the Security Lead Time.

Purchase - Lead times

Supplier Lead Time

The Supplier Lead Time is the time needed for a product you purchased to be delivered. To configure it, open a product from Purchase - Products - Products and add a Vendor under the Purchase tab.

By clicking on Add a line, a new window is displayed. You can specify the Delivery Lead Time there. If done so, the delivery day for every purchase of that product is now equal to Date of the Purchase Order + Delivery Lead Time. 

Security Lead Time

The Security Lead Time for purchase follows the same logic as the one for Sales, except that you are the customer. To set up Security Lead Time for purchase, go to Inventory - Configuration - Settings and enable the feature.

Deliver several products with different lead times

Customers frequently order multiple things at the same time. These can have varying lead times but must still be delivered, either all at once or individually. Fortunately, CommerceCore™ can assist you in handling these situations quickly and simply.

You may choose When all goods are ready or As soon as possible from the Other Info page of your Sale Order. The first method is to send things all at once, whereas the second method is to supply them individually. 

Manufacturing Lead Time

The Manufacturing Lead Time is the time needed to manufacture the product. To specify it, go the Inventory tab - Products. 

When you open a window of any product form, click on Inventory and add the number of days the manufacturing takes.

Security Lead Time

The Security Lead Time for manufacturing allows generating manufacturing orders earlier to cope with the risk of manufacturing delays.

To enable it, go to Manufacturing - Configuration - Settings and tick Security Lead Time. 

Conclusion 

Lead time is a crucial metric for any business. It assists the company in predicting sales, making operations efficient, and improves customer satisfaction. However, it would be tough to improve lead times in the absence of a proper inventory management system, efficient production process and right suppliers.

CommerceCore™ can help you manage different lead times with its advanced features that will also enable your team to focus on more important tasks like improving customer service or increasing product quality.

Get started today by scheduling a demo with an expert from our team so we can show you how the CommerceCore™ powerful platform could transform your supply chain!