Business, finance and operations

Lead time

  • Business, finance and operations

Definition

The total time between an order being placed and it being received.

Example

An order placed on 1 March and delivered on 15 March has a lead time of 14 days.

For your role

Choose your role to see what this term means in your work.

Why it matters

Customers and planners depend on knowing how long things take.

Where it is used

Supplier agreements, planning tools and customer promises.

How to calculate it

Delivery date − order date

Worked example

An order placed on 1 March and delivered on 15 March has a lead time of 14 days.