About DIFOT (Delivered In Full and On Time)

DIFOT (Delivered In Full and On Time) is a standard used to measure delivery performance in a supply chain. Some consider this standard superior to other delivery performance indicators, such as shipped-on-time (SOT) and on-time performance (OTP), because it focuses on deliveries from the customer's perspective, rather than from the supplier's perspective. DIFOT measures how often customers get what they want when they want it.

As implemented in SyteLine, DIFOT is calculated using this criteria:

  • Was the order fulfilled with the correct number of items?

    Separate parameters can be set to measure for both surpluses and deficits.

  • Was the order shipped on the correct date?

    Separate parameters can be set to account for both early and late shipments.

When an order meets the acceptable criteria for both In Full and On Time, it meets DIFOT standards for success.

Note:  The use of DIFOT and its settings do not affect any delivery or shipment processes. DIFOT is used solely to evaluate delivery performance.

On the Customer Order Lines form and the Customer Order Blanket Releases form, there is a section that provides a graphic display of DIFOT success or failure, using check marks and other problem indicators. If the order line passes all criteria for on-time delivery, an On Time check mark is displayed. If the order line passes all criteria for quantities delivered, an In Full check mark is displayed. If any criteria do not pass, the appropriate problem indicator is displayed. Only when both the On Time and In Full criteria display check marks does the DIFOT summary also display a check mark. Only when all three indicators are check marks is the DIFOT evaluation considered a success.

Setting DIFOT policies

DIFOT criteria can be set at several different levels. So, you have some flexibility when you set and apply DIFOT policies. For example, you can have a default DIFOT policy but you can override the default settings for a particular customer, order, or order line/release.

SyteLine uses this hierarchy to determine how these criteria are applied:

On the form: You can set:
Order Entry Parameters The default DIFOT criteria for the system.
Customer Ship-Tos or Multi-Site Customer Ship-Tos The default DIFOT criteria for individual customers.
Note:  If a customer has multiple Ship To addresses, all Ship To addresses after the first one (Ship To = 0) default to the same DIFOT settings as the first one. You can set DIFOT values for individual Ship To addresses on these forms.

If DIFOT criteria are not set on these forms, the system defaults to the settings on the Order Entry Parameters form.

Customer Orders The default DIFOT criteria for individual customer orders.

If DIFOT criteria are not set on this form, the system defaults to the settings on the associated Customer Ship-Tos or Multi-Site Customer Ship-Tos form.

Customer Order Lines or Customer Order Blanket Lines The DIFOT criteria for individual order lines.

If DIFOT criteria are not set on these forms, the system defaults to the settings on the associated Customer Orders form.

Customer Order Blanket Releases The DIFOT criteria for individual blanket releases.

If DIFOT criteria are not set on this form, the system defaults to the settings on the associated Customer Order Blanket Lines form.

Note:  This hierarchy applies only to customers, orders, order lines, etc. created after DIFOT was implemented on the system. Records created before DIFOT was implemented show only blank, or null, values in the DIFOT-related fields. These records do not derive values from this hierarchy.

Using DIFOT

Two additional tools are available to use DIFOT:

  • The Delivered In Full And On Time Report uses the DIFOT settings to generate several types of reports that allow you to view and analyze DIFOT performance.

    Use this report form to apply the DIFOT policy settings and evaluate DIFOT performance. Without the DIFOT reports, there is no real use for the settings.

  • The Update Order DIFOT Policy utility is used to change the DIFOT settings for selected customer orders after those orders are created. This utility works only with records from the Customer Order Lines form and the Customer Order Blanket Releases form.

    This tool allows for DIFOT evaluations on records that were created before DIFOT evaluation was available in SyteLine.