Using time to measure supply pipeline performance

2 Using time to measure supply pipeline performance 

In the same way that time can be used to measure the performance of a process within a company so it can be used to measirre the supply pipeline. Two measures are presented below that are key to imderstanding supply pipeline performance P-time and D-time. 

The first measure of performance for the total supply process is to determine how long it takes for a product or service to pass through it. This measure is used to identify the total logistics lead time, also known as the P-time or production time. 

Just to be clear, the P-time is a measure of the total time it takes for a product to go through a pipeline. Thus it includes source, make and deliver lead times it is not just the time it takes to supply from stock. 

The measure starts the moment a new order is raised. It includes all the time needed to take a product through all the processes necessary to make and deliver that product. It is important to be clear about when these activities start and end in order for the measure to be consistent should you want to measure performance for a number of processes, including those of competitors. For a first attempt at this measure take the starting time as the point when an order is raised. Consider the total time needed to make and deliver a new product or batch of products. This includes the time needed to procure the longest lead parts and the total manufacturing time. The end of the process is the time when you fulfil an order and send the product to the customer. 

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