Twelve weeks quoted, sixteen weeks delivered, every time

A manufacturer quotes twelve weeks because that is what it has always quoted. Deliveries run to sixteen. Everyone in the business knows this and the quoted figure does not change.

Where the four weeks go

Usually bought-out components rather than in-house work. Those lead times are outside the manufacturer's control and inside its promise, and they are rarely tracked as a separate figure.

The cost of the optimistic quote

It wins orders and loses relationships. A customer told sixteen weeks plans for sixteen. A customer told twelve and given sixteen has been let down, regardless of whether sixteen was reasonable.

Quoting honestly is a competitive position

Some orders will be lost to a shorter quoted time from a competitor who will also be late. Manufacturers who have made this change generally report that the customers they keep are better ones, and that expediting costs fall sharply.