How to change the lead time of one or many items

Lead time is a critical planning attribute in DemandCaster. It is the basis to which an order point is calculated and without correct lead times you may have too much or too little inventory to meet demand. This article reviews the steps to manually change lead times within DemandCaster.

The lead time may be changed from any of the analytics or item selection interface. It may also be changed on demand from the item options tab. If you change the lead time from any of the interfaces, the change will not be reflected at the item until the next time a supply plan or requirement plan is run.

Lead Time Logic and Structure

As also documented in the article DRP Lead Time Logic, the lead time values are as follows:

  1. Lead Time: This is the time to manufacture, purchase, or fulfill (if DRP is enabled) an item. This is the days that the explosion of the BOM's are backed off within a location where the item is manufactured. If the item is not manufactured, this value is the vendor lead time. In all cases, the suggested order due date and safety stock is calculated using the greater of lead time or order lead time. This is the default lead time if no other lead times are provided. This is the most common value to manage.
  2. Order Lead Time: This is the time the system suggests a replenishment order be scheduled to arrive at the items location. If a location is a ship from location with a source location, the order lead time is total lead time which is the sum of Lead Time + Transfer time. This value defaults to the lead time unless otherwise noted. If the Order Lead Time is greater than the lead time and the item is manufactured, then the order is scheduled to arrive at the order lead time but the component explosion is backed off by the items lead time.
  3. Transfer Lead Time: This is the time to move the item from one location to another when multi-location (DRP) is enabled. For the destination location, the lead time used to calculate safety stock is the greater of order lead time or manufacturing lead time plus transfer lead time. If the default weekly planning is used, this value defaults to the nearest weekly value i.e. 8 day transfer time is 14 days.

To Change the Lead Times, Open the Lead Time Interface Under the Analytics Menu Group

You may also edit from the item selection or any of the other analytics pages.

Open the Lead Time Interface Under the Analytics Menu Group

Filter or Select Item(s)

  1. Use the drop downs and selection filters to filter by vendor, category, or other attribute.
  2. You may also search for an item by entering the search value or item number
  3. Click on "Search" to search
Filter or Select Item(s)

Select Items to Edit

  1. After the selection is filtered, select the item(s) by clicking on select all
  2. Alternatively, you may click on the check box to select one or a few items at a time
  3. Once selected, click on "Edit" to open the options screen
Select Items to Edit

Multiple Settings Edit interface opens

  1. Scroll down to Lead Time Settings
  2. Select the setting(s) to enable and change
  3. Enter the value desired. If other settings need to be changed, repeat steps 1 and 2
  4. Scroll down to bottom of page and click "Save."
Multiple Settings Edit interface opens

New Lead Time Value is Applied

The new values is now 65 days. The highlighted value is the value applied and will be used upon running the next requirement plan.

New Lead Time Value is Applied