What is a healthy OTD target?

For discrete manufacturers, 90%+ at the order level against the original promised date. Anything lower indicates scheduling architecture, not effort, is the constraint.

Should OTD be line-level or order-level?

Order-level, because that is what the customer experiences. Line-level OTD can be high while order-level is low if every order ships partial.

Why is reported OTD usually optimistic?

Most shops measure against the latest acknowledged date, not the original. Every internal slip resets the clock and inflates the headline number.

Due-Date Performance — Manufacturing Scheduling Glossary

Definition

Due-date performance, commonly measured as on-time delivery (OTD), is the percentage of customer orders shipped on or before the promised date. It is the single KPI most directly affected by scheduling quality and the one customers actually care about. Definitions vary (line-level, order-level, with or without partials) but the principle is constant: the plan said this date, did the shipment match?

Why it matters

Most discrete shops report OTD in the 60–75% range and believe they are higher. The gap is usually due to inconsistent measurement (acknowledged date, requested date, latest re-quote) and to OTD reported at line level when the customer cares about the complete order. Honest measurement is the first step; the scheduling fix is the second.

Common failure mode

The shop tracks OTD against the most recent acknowledged date, with each slip re-acknowledged. Internal reports show 92% OTD. The customer survey shows 67%. The two numbers measure different things and only one of them affects renewal.

How Skody approaches it

Skody measures OTD against the original promised date, at the order level, and surfaces at-risk orders with the named cause and the operations that need to move. Planners act on the leading indicator rather than reading the lagging report.

Operational Trust

The condition where the floor believes and executes the schedule the planner publishes.

Schedule Instability

When the schedule changes so often that the floor cannot rely on it.

Available Capacity

The real, bookable hours on each resource after subtracting maintenance, calibration, training, and known constraints.

Finite Capacity Scheduling

Scheduling that respects the real, limited capacity of each machine, operator, and tool.