Explain which options affect delivery
Expose the dimensions, materials or choices that materially change the lead time, at the point the choice is made.
- Evidence
- Established practice. Widely and independently practised across commerce. Nothing here is a Specify discovery; these are the ideas most likely to be uncontroversial and least likely to be exciting.
- Difficulty
- Moderate. Difficulty is an initial editorial assessment of how much work an idea usually takes, not a guaranteed estimate for your systems. A change that is small in one storefront can be significant in another because of where the data lives.
The commercial problem
A single delivery estimate is shown for a product with many configurations, several of which take considerably longer. The customer discovers the real lead time at checkout, after confirmation, or when it fails to arrive.
Why it matters
Lead time is frequently a decision input rather than an afterthought. Someone with a deadline will choose a different specification if they know which choice costs three weeks, and they will cancel if they find out afterwards.
Where it applies
- Configurable products where one option triggers a different production route
- Anything with a mix of stocked and made-to-order variants
- Products with components sourced on different schedules
Suggested implementation
- Identify which choices genuinely change the route through production. It is usually fewer than expected.
- Attach the timing consequence to the option itself, at the moment of choosing.
- State a range with its conditions rather than a single number the business cannot hold.
- Distinguish an estimate from a commitment in the words used, not only in the terms.
Risks and constraints
- Publishing lead times you cannot meet converts an information improvement into a promise you will break.
- Too much timing detail on every option produces noise and hides the two choices that matter.
- Lead times drift. An unmaintained estimate becomes a misrepresentation.
What to measure
- Post-purchase queries asking when an order will arrive
- Cancellations or changes attributed to delivery timing
- Whether customers with deadlines shift toward the faster specification
How this relates to Specify
Lead-time conditions are part of the Constraint Record: a statement of what may be offered and under which conditions.
Related ideas
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