Measure supplier lead time between clearly defined events. Compare the original promise with actual receipts. Keep incomplete orders visible; completed orders alone can hide the worst delays.
“Teen din mein aa jayega.” Your customer has already heard that twice.
Measure supplier lead time between clearly defined events. Compare the original promise with actual receipts. Keep incomplete orders visible; completed orders alone can hide the worst delays.
Decide what you need to measure
Supplier dispatch, warehouse receipt and stock ready for sale are different events.
| Measure | Start | Finish | Decision it helps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order-to-first-receipt | Supplier accepts your order | First physical receipt | When some stock may arrive |
| Order-to-complete-receipt | Supplier accepts your order | Full agreed quantity arrives | When the order may finish |
| Time until usable stock | Supplier accepts your order | Required quantity passes your checks | When you may fulfil the customer order |
Keep the order placement date too. A delay before supplier acceptance still affects your customer, even if it falls outside these measures.
Use calendar days or working days consistently. State which you chose. Do not compare a seven-calendar-day result with a five-working-day promise without conversion.
Copy these fields into your tracker
- Order reference: Include item, quantity and unit for each line.
- Accepted date: Record the supplier's confirmation, not an assumed date.
- Original promise: Preserve it when a supplier proposes a later date.
- Revised promise: Record the revision date and reason separately.
- Receipt events: Record dates, quantities and physical receipt references.
- Quality status: Separate received quantity from usable quantity.
- Open balance: Name the next action, responsible person and update date.
ERPNext's supplier scorecard documentation describes configurable evaluation criteria. A score depends on its definitions. Do not compare two suppliers using unexplained scores or different delivery rules.
A partial receipt changes the answer
This fictional order contains 100 identical pieces. Use calendar-day differences, excluding the start date.
| Event | Date | Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| Supplier accepts order | 1 September | 100 |
| Original full-delivery promise | 5 September | 100 |
| First physical receipt | 4 September | 40 |
| Final physical receipt | 9 September | 60 |
The first receipt took three days. Complete receipt took eight days. Full delivery missed the original promise by four days.
Calling this “three-day delivery” hides the 60 pieces that arrived later.
Now suppose inspection holds ten pieces from the final receipt until 11 September. All 100 become usable on that date. Time until the full quantity becomes usable is ten days.
The supplier delay and your inspection time need separate explanations. Do not automatically blame the supplier for every day until release.
Include orders that remain open
Assume five comparable order lines were due by your review date. Three arrived in full on time. One arrived late. One remains incomplete.
Here, count physical receipt of the complete agreed item and quantity by the original deadline. This physical-receipt measure does not establish that inspection released all goods.
For this explicitly defined measure, on-time-in-full rate = 3 ÷ 5 = 60%.
The open order stays in the denominator. A line not yet due stays outside this due-line measure. Show its open quantity separately.
Record agreed cancellations and scope changes. If these change the cohort, show original and adjusted counts with reasons. Do not quietly remove a difficult order or overwrite its original promise to improve the percentage.
Compare like with like
- Product differences: A stocked item and a made-to-order item need separate comparisons.
- Order size: A small top-up may not predict a large order's completion time.
- Route differences: Separate supplier readiness from transport delays where records allow it.
- Buyer delays: Record late approvals, specification changes or payment holds.
- Small samples: Show completed and open order counts beside averages or percentages.
Averages can hide a wide spread. Show the individual results and late open orders before choosing a supplier. These records inform the next promise; they do not guarantee it.
Use the result before committing a date
Check available stock, confirmed incoming quantities and customer commitments together. Ask the supplier about the missing quantity, not merely whether the order “has dispatched.”
For processing work, use the pending-material guide. For your outgoing order, use the partial-dispatch tracker.
Give the customer a checked quantity and the next update you can meet. An estimated arrival remains an estimate.
Ask about your supplier records
Describe the delivery question you want answered. Tell us your software and which order and receipt dates you record. Empire is our current connector; we must check this question's support. This guide does not provide live carrier tracking.
Questions you might ask
Should I use the first or final receipt date?
Use the date that answers your question. Show both when partial receipts affect the customer order.
Does a revised promise replace the original date?
Keep both. The original measures the first commitment; the revision supports today's follow-up.
Can I rank suppliers from two deliveries?
You can compare those deliveries. Show the small sample and open orders; do not claim a stable supplier ranking.