Fulfillment Lead Times

PeopleSoft Inventory uses lead times to ensure accurate supply and demand projections and to control fulfillment processing. Some lead times, such as the average shipping lead time, are for informational purposes only and are discussed elsewhere.

Closure-Calendar Processing and Lead Days

The Closure Calendar page enables you to require closure-calendar validation and processing for shipping, receiving, and materials management activities in the business unit. If you have defined closure dates and selected the Use Closure Calendar check box on the Setup Fulfillment-Reservation page, the system ensures that only open business days are included in lead-time calculations by adding one day to the lead time for every day that the business unit is closed. For example, when calculating reservation lead days, PeopleSoft Inventory verifies that the date range does not include closed days; if it does, the system adds any closed days to the to date (today plus the number of reservation lead days). Therefore, the resulting lead time includes today plus the number of reservation lead days and closed days.

Reservation lead days represent the number of days required to reserve, pick, pack, and ship the majority of the items in the business unit. The value defined for the business unit (on the Setup Fulfillment-Reservation page) becomes the default for the item level; you can override it. The reservation lead days entered on the Setup Item Fulfillment page represent the number of days required to reserve, pick, pack, and ship a particular item.

The reservation lead days are used by the reservation processes to:

  • Reserve demand lines.

    The requested quantities for soft-reserve items can be reserved when the scheduled shipment date falls within the reservation lead days window defined for the item or business unit.

  • Promise demand lines.

    The requested quantities for ATP items can be fully or partially promised when the scheduled shipment date falls within the reservation lead days window defined for the item or business unit.

Note: Reservation processing can reserve or promise stock to a demand line. The decision to move the line from the unfulfilled state to the releasable state is made during reservation processing based on the reservation and backorder rules, not the lead days.

You can use the Update Unreserved Orders page or the Shortage Workbench to view orders that are not within the reservation lead days.

The reservation lead days can be overridden on the reservation request if the Allow Override of Lead Days check box is selected on the Setup Fulfillment-Reservation page. In addition, to prevent entry errors, the override value cannot create a scheduled shipment date that exceeds the current date plus the max lead days entered on the Setup Fulfillment-Reservation page. The override value is never used for ATP processing. ATP always uses the reservation lead days at the business unit or item level.

Note: When the business unit requires closure-calendar validation and processing for receiving activities as defined on the Closure Calendar page, and when the calculated schedule shipment date for the requisition falls on a closure date, the system selects the first valid future date for the schedule shipment date. Therefore, the reservation lead days include only open business days.

ATP lead days represent the number of days that the majority of the items in the business unit can be fully promised for shipment. The business unit value (defined on the on the Setup Fulfillment-Reservation page) becomes the default for a particular item on the Setup Item Fulfillment page. You can override this default.

ATP lead days should be greater than the reservation lead days. If the scheduled shipment date falls within the ATP lead days, the ATP function promises only the full quantity requested. If the scheduled shipment date falls within the reservation lead days, the system promises either the full or partial quantity requested.

Note: If the business unit requires closure-calendar validation and processing for shipping activities as defined on the Closure Calendar page, and if the number of ATP lead days includes closure dates, the system adds one day for every closed day to the number of reservation lead days to compare against the scheduled ship date. Therefore, the lead days include only open business days.

Picking lead days and minutes represent the time required to process a demand line from the time that it is picked to the time that it is shipped. The business unit defaults (defined on the Setup Fulfillment-Order Release page) can be overridden on the Order Release process page. When selecting orders for inclusion in a pick batch ID, the system adds the picking lead days and minutes to today's date and time and compares the result to the scheduled ship date.

Note: If the business unit requires closure-calendar validation and processing for shipping activities as defined on the Closure Calendar page, and if the picking lead days include closure dates, the system adds one day for every closed day to the picking lead time to compare against the scheduled ship date. Therefore, the lead days include only open business days. Times are not included in these calculations.

Replenishment lead days, established for a business unit/item combination on the Define Business Unit Item - Inventory: Replenishment page, represent the average number of days from purchase order placement to stock receipt. The ad hoc and reorder point replenishment methods use these values. (Fixed bin replenishment does not use lead days.)

When creating ad hoc requisitions, the Reserve Materials process adds the replenishment lead days to the required-by date to determine the expected date for the item.

Note: When the business unit requires closure-calendar validation and processing for receiving activities as defined on the Closure Calendar page, and when the calculated required date for the requisition falls on a closure date, the system selects the first valid previous date for the required date. It then takes this new required date and adds the replenishment lead days to arrive at the expected date. Therefore, the lead days include only open business days. If this calculation encounters a closure date, the system selects the first valid future date for the expected date.

You set up business unit replenishment parameters on the Setup Replenishment page. These parameters become the defaults for the item level on the Define Business Unit Item - Inventory: Replenishment page.

When the system calculates replenishment lead times, the Calculate Replenishment Parameters process (IN_RPL_RPM) averages the delta between an item's purchase order date and its subsequent putaway date. The purchase order date is required for this calculation.

Shelf life values are used in lot expiration calculations and, when added to the lot creation date, represent how long a lot is valid for fulfillment processing (expiration date = creation date + shelf life). You establish these parameters for an item on the Define Business Unit Item - Inventory: Shipping/Handling page.