Handling temporary vendor lead time problems

Your vendors may have temporary problems meeting their standard lead times for certain items. To ensure the Planner creates the planned order with the appropriate lead time in this situation, specify an "earliest receipt date."

This date temporarily overrides the item's standard and expedited lead times. When the Planner creates a planned order for this item, it determines that the item can be received either by the current time plus lead time or by the earliest receipt date, whichever is later. The earliest receipt date overrides standard and expedited lead times as follows:

  • Standard lead time: earliest receipt date overrides standard lead time only until the time between the current date and the earliest receipt date is within lead time (after which normal lead time planning resumes).
  • Expedited lead time: if the earliest receipt date is between the standard lead time and the expedited lead time, it overrides the expedited lead time and becomes the "effective" expedited receipt date. Once the earliest receipt date is within the expedited lead time, the normal expedited lead time will be used.

You only need to define the earliest receipt date when a vendor lead time problem occurs, and you do not need to "reset" the date when the lead time situation returns to normal.

To define an earliest receipt date:

  1. Open the Item Editor and select the purchased item for which to define an earliest receipt date.
  2. Select the Attributes tab.
  3. Click the Add button. The Add Attribute dialog displays.
  4. In the Attribute ID field, enter PODATE.
  5. In the Attribute Value field, enter the date that will be the earliest receipt date for this purchased item (for example, 3/11/2003).
  6. Click OK.