lead time
7
4.5
- noun
- /liːd taɪm/
- Specialized
:
tiempo de entrega
- A tank manufacturer, for instance, might be looking at a two-month lead time for stainless steel.
- a long lead time
- a short lead time
- lead times for development
What is the average lead time for materials that are both stock and not stock?
- What is the average lead time for materials that are both stock and not stock?
- You have to be able to go to space more frequently with less lead time.
- There's a lot of lead time into making those experiments and making those discoveries.
- Now sure, lead times are going down for Tesla's, but that could be for a good reason.
- So TSMC had tripled its production lead time for seven nanometer as a result of the higher demand than supply can match.
- They needed a lead time with all these magazines, with all these TV shows, MTV, all this stuff to make sure that everything would hit at the same time.
Examples
-
Typically no more than a few days lead time.
Fiction book (2001) -
Respondents recommended a slow, phased process with ample lead time for planning and dissemination.
Academic text (1993) -
What is the average lead time for materials that are both stock and not stock?
-
Yeah, I have a long lead time for when I expect this to get anywhere.
-
But given enough lead time, we can look anywhere within the target area, all right?
-
Some of these projects have long lead times, especially when developers buy up land many years before they build on it.
Academic text (2006) -
Programs should select candidates early and provide ample lead time for the training.
Academic text (2006) -
Consequently, the designers needed much more lead time than usual.
Academic text (1999) -
Typical lead times at his company, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., average eight weeks.
Academic text (2007) -
From order to delivery, understanding the average lead time helps businesses manage their schedules effectively.
Synonyms
3
5.3
The time needed to prepare a ship or plane for its next trip
2
3.4
The time needed to finish a process
1
3.4
Time that passes between two events
1
3.4
A period of time between a start and an end
How Long
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase pairs 'lead' (ahead/preceding) with 'time' (a span), so a learner can infer it refers to some kind of preceding or preparatory period. However, the exact technical sense used in business/manufacturing — the interval between initiating an order/process and its completion or delivery — is specialized jargon and not fully predictable from the constituents, making partial but not full transparency.
Etymology
The term lead time may come from the word lead, meaning 'to go before', combined with time, so it gives the image of the time that comes before an event. So, in business and manufacturing it means the period you need to plan or make something before it is ready.