Someone once told me their company always hits 100% On-Time Delivery (OTD) and 100% Customer Request Date (CRD).
Naturally, I was impressed.
After all, in real-world operations, we know how tough it is to consistently deliver above 98%. We work relentlessly just to sustain 98% — and that already takes a lot.
Equipment downtime. Supplier delays. Unplanned demand. Even the occasional lot hold. It’s a daily battle to stay consistent. But we push through — because reliability matters.
So I leaned in and asked them, “That’s impressive. What’s your secret?”
They smiled and said:
“We hold about three months’ worth of finished goods inventory. That way, orders are always ready to ship.”
Suddenly, it wasn’t so impressive anymore.
Yes — 100% OTD and CRD looks great on a dashboard. But if you’re sitting on months of finished goods, you’re not solving the problem — You’re deferring it to your cash flow.
📉 Inventory that doesn’t move is cash that doesn’t breathe.
📦 You’re not just warehousing products — you’re warehousing your capital.
🚫 And the longer it sits, the higher the risks: obsolescence, excess, write-offs.
You can deliver 100% when your buffer is that wide. But what happens when demand changes? Or if raw materials surge in cost?
That inventory becomes a liability, not a strength.
Over the past two years, our team improved our inventory turns from 4x to 6–8x, while still sustaining 98% On Time Delivery (OTD) and >93% Customer Request Date (CRD) looking at the year performance – and we did it without hiding behind inventory.
It took focus. It took change.
And it took a framework we call the 7 Breakthrough Principles in Operations Management:
1️⃣ The Goal — Profit and sustainable growth
2️⃣ Throughput — What sells is what matters
3️⃣ Constraint — Focus where it counts
4️⃣ Variability — Control what you can’t eliminate
5️⃣ Balance Factory Flow — Not capacity
6️⃣ Smart Factory — Real-time data, real-time action
7️⃣ Breakthrough Leaders — Empower, solve, scale
🏆 What Does Best-in-Class Really Look Like?
Let’s compare performance across industries — not just with OTD and CRD, but with inventory turns, the metric that tells you what’s behind the curtain:
| Industry | Inventory Turns | OTD | CRD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semiconductor (Assembly/Test) | 6–8x | >98% | >95% |
| Automotive Manufacturing | 10–12x | >98% | >95% |
| Consumer Electronics | 8–10x | >97% | >93% |
| Electro-Optics | 5–7x | >98% | >95% |
| Industrial Equipment | 4–6x | >95% | >90% |
| Aerospace Components | 3–5x | >95% | >90% |
| FMCG / CPG | 12–14x | >98% | >95% |
You’ll notice something:
📊 High OTD is expected.
📦 But high inventory turns with high OTD and CRD … that’s World-class.
So the next time someone proudly says: “We’re always at 100% OTD and CRD!”
Go ahead and ask: “What’s your inventory turn?”
Because anyone can ship on time with a warehouse full of product. But delivering fast with less — that’s the mark of a truly efficient, agile, and profitable operation.
Let’s stop glorifying metrics in isolation. Let’s start celebrating performance that’s lean, sustainable, and cash-flow smart.
#OperationsExcellence #InventoryTurns #OTD #CRD #SmartManufacturing #Lean #CashFlowMatters #Throughput #ContinuousImprovement #LeadershipInManufacturing
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