How Confirming Inventory and Delivery Dates Drives Service and Simplicity
A simple promise can carry immense weight. When a customer places an order, their expectation is clear: “Tell me when I’ll get it—and keep your word.” Behind that expectation lies one of the most powerful yet overlooked capabilities in supply chain operations: the ability to confirm inventory availability and commit a delivery date quickly and reliably.
In SCOR Digital Standard (DS), this process is captured in O2.3 – Confirm Inventory Availability and Delivery Date. The goal is clear: identify what inventory is available (on hand and incoming), reserve it, and provide a confirmed delivery date. But doing this well—especially at speed and scale—depends on having the right processes and systems in place.
The Case for Digitization
Digitization transforms this from a reactive, manual task into a real-time, data-driven capability. When executed properly:
- Promises to customers are fast, reliable, and accurate.
- Inventory is reserved automatically.
- Delivery dates account for real lead times, carrier availability, and plant schedules.
- The supply chain team spends less time firefighting and more time optimizing.
With integrated systems—such as ATP (Available-to-Promise) or CTP (Capable-to-Promise) logic built into ERP or order management platforms—teams can assess inventory, incoming supply, and production capacity in seconds, not hours or days.
But here’s the catch: garbage in, garbage out.
Accuracy Depends on the Foundations
Digital tools are only as good as the data they rely on. And that’s where many companies stumble. Inventory data that isn’t maintained, open supply or demand orders that are inaccurate, or delays in updating production plans can all lead to false promises. Once that trust is broken, it’s hard to win back.
To make digital order confirmation work, companies must:
- Maintain accurate inventory records (including safety stocks, blocked stock, etc.)
- Ensure purchase and production orders are current and realistic
- Clean up old or stale demand orders that distort availability views
- Align lead times with actual performance, not idealized assumptions
Key Metrics for Diagnosing Reliability
The SCOR DS model provides a set of clear metrics to measure how well this process is functioning:
- RL.2.1 – % Orders Delivered In Full
- RL.2.2 – Delivery Performance to Original Commit Date
- RL.2.9 – On Time
- RL.2.10 – In Full (Correct Product)
- RS.3.97 – Order Fulfillment Dwell Time
If these metrics are weak, chances are the O2.3 process needs attention. Either the promise logic is flawed, or the data feeding it is untrustworthy.
Best Practices that Help
A number of SCOR-referenced practices support excellence in this area:
- BP.114 – Use of a robust Order Quotation System
- BP.152 – Automated Data Capture (barcoding, scanning, real-time updates)
- BP.328 – Enable Online Order Configurability to automate what can be promised
Combined with the right skills—availability management, delivery scheduling, and lead-time validation—these build a responsive and resilient order confirmation process.
Final Thought
A fast and reliable delivery commitment process is more than just a technical function—it’s a signal of confidence to your customer. With the right data discipline and digital backbone, companies can turn O2.3 into a competitive advantage.
If you’re unsure whether your business is set up to deliver this consistently, it might be time to assess the health of your order confirmation process. A simple fix in data accuracy could unlock massive value in service reliability.
