lead time

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

lead time (countable and uncountable, plural lead times)

1. (idiomatic) The amount of time between the initiation of some process and its completion, e.g. the time required to manufacture or procure a product; the time required before something can be provided or delivered.

   It's an excellent device, but it has a 10-week lead time, so be sure to order it in advance.

   • 2019 October, “Chase Line service to be split next May”, in Modern Railways, page 17:

     With long lead times in timetable planning WMT [West Midlands Trains] has stated that the earliest it can recast the timetable will be May 2020.

Derived terms

• administrative lead time
• procurement lead time

 

Translations

the amount of time between the initiation of some process and its completion

• Dutch: doorlooptijd (nl) m or f, levertijd (nl) m or f, productietijd m or f
• Finnish: läpimenoaika
• French: délai de mise en œuvre m, délai de livraison (fr) m
• Polish: czas realizacji m
• Swedish: ledtid c

See also

• critical path
• turnaround time

References

• “lead time”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

• lead time on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• deli meat, meal-tide, mealtide