Entering Lead Time Parameters

Lead time is the number of days from the placement of a purchase order to date of its receipt. Lead time affects order points, line points, and safety stocks; therefore, accurate lead times are critical to accurate purchase planning.

You can override the lead time by changing the calculated lead days, changing the lead factor used to calculate the lead time, or by entering a manual override at the product or buy line level.

Note: Seasonal products use a lead time for the season.

Enter lead time parameters for a defined product on the Forecast Parameters Maintenance screen. In addition to setting lead time parameters at the product level, you can also set these parameters at the system or buy line level.

The following procedure is a manual process for a single product. Use the Mass Load program to enter inventory parameters to groups of products.

To enter lead time parameters for a product:

From the Files menu, select Product to display the Product Maintenance screen.
Select a product.
Use the Inven hot key to display the Primary Inventory Maintenance screen.
Use the Forecast Params hot key to display the Forecast Parameters Maintenance screen.

Complete the following fields:

Field	Description
Mn LF	Enter the minimum number of most-recent purchase orders the system samples to calculate the lead time for the product.
Lead Fctr	Enter a value to control the automatic calculation lead time for the product. Seasonal products use a calculated lead time for the ”r;season” of the product. If null or blank, the system uses the lead factor set for the product's buy line. If you enter a number greater than 0, this is the maximum number of most-recent purchase orders the system samples to estimate the lead time for the product. If you enter 0, the Update Demand Forecast program uses the current value of the Lead Days field as the lead time. The program will not calculate a new lead time until Lead Fctr is set to a number other than 0. Note: If you do not enter a lead time in the Lead Days field, the program uses the current value of the Default Lead Time Days If Product And Buy Line Have None control maintenance record.
Lead Days	The lead time for the product. This field updates when the Lead Fctr field is set to a value greater than 0. To override the calculated lead time, enter a user-defined lead time in the Lead Days field and set the Lead Fctr field to 0.

Press Esc to save changes and return to the previous screen.

Exit Product Maintenance for changes to take effect.