Lead times aren’t the problem. Your ordering calendar is
Erica Garman, Principal, operationsMay 7, 20265 min read
What to take away
Most 'supply chain delays' are really late purchase orders.
Every long-lead item needs an order-by date, not a hope.
Pull the buyout log from the look-ahead, not from memory.
Expedite fees are a reporting problem wearing a freight costume.
Ask a PM why the job slipped and you'll hear about lead times. Pull the PO dates and a different story appears: the gear was released three weeks after it should have been, because nobody owned the date it had to leave.
Where the delay actually starts
| Event | Needed | Happened | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Submittal approved | Week 2 | Week 5 | +3 wks |
| PO released | Week 3 | Week 8 | +5 wks |
| Quoted lead time | 10 wks | 10 wks | 0 |
| On site | Week 13 | Week 18 | +5 wks |
5 wks
Delay added before the supplier was involved
0
Days the supplier was actually late
$4,800
Expedite fee to recover three of the five weeks
Build the ordering calendar
- 01List every material with a lead time over two weeks.
- 02Work backward from the install date to an order-by date - include submittal and approval time.
- 03Assign one owner per item. Names, not departments.
- 04Review the log against the look-ahead every week, same meeting.
“We stopped yelling at suppliers the month we started publishing order-by dates. Turns out they were never the problem.”
Operations manager, mechanical contractor
Questions people ask
How do contractors reduce material delays?
Tie procurement to the schedule. Build a buyout log with order-by dates worked backward from each install date, assign one owner per item, and review it weekly against the look-ahead. Most delays disappear before a supplier is ever involved.
What is an order-by date?
The latest date a purchase order can be released and still hit the install date, after accounting for submittal review, approval and quoted lead time. It converts a vague lead time into a decision someone owns.
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