89Commitment to Continual Improvement
Lead time is made up of three distinct categories and all of them are
reported in units of seconds, minutes, hours, or days. The categories
are
a. Preprocessing lead time: This is also known as planning time or
paperwork. It represents the time required to release a purchase
order (if you buy an item) or create a job (if you manufacture an
item) from the time you learn of the requirement.
b. Processing lead time: This is the time required to procure or
manufacture an item.
c. Postprocessing lead time: It represents the time to make a pur-
chased item available in inventory from the time you receive it
(including quarantine, inspection, etc.).
Lead time may be captured when creating a value st ...