responsiveness delivering goods on

responsiveness delivering goods on time and producing goods with shorter lead times than the market dictates are important competitive tools. on-time delivery of goods is related to a firm's ability to forecast the time required to produce and deliver goods. if a firm has higher inventories than its competitors, then the firm's production lead time is higher than the industry's forecast horizon. high inventories may obscure the actual time required to produce and fill an order. lower inventories allow actual lead time to be more carefully observed, and more accurate delivery dates can be provided.Shortening lead times is also crucial;doing so is equivalent to lowering work-in-process inventories. A company carrying 10 day of work-in-process inventories has an average production lead time of 10 days.then company should now be carrying only five days of work-in-process inventory
as lead times are reduced, it is also possible to reduce finished goods inventorise.