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Overview

Not every product takes the same amount of planning. A loaf of banana bread can be baked the day before. A three-tier wedding cake needs two weeks of lead time. Knead lets you set a minimum lead time on each product so customers cannot order too close to the delivery date.

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What Lead Time Does

Lead time is the minimum number of days between when a customer places an order and when they can receive it. When you set a lead time of 7 days on a product, customers on The Board cannot select a delivery date less than 7 days from today. This protects you from last-minute requests on products that need extended preparation.

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Setting Lead Time on a Product

  1. Open your product catalog from The Counter.
  2. Tap the product you want to configure.
  3. Scroll to the Lead Time field.
  4. Enter the number of days.
  5. Save your changes.
The lead time takes effect immediately on The Board.

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How Lead Time Affects The Board

When a customer adds a product with a lead time to their enquiry, the date picker automatically grays out dates that fall within the lead time window. The customer can only select dates far enough in the future to meet your requirement. If the customer adds multiple products with different lead times, The Board uses the longest lead time among all selected products. This ensures every item in the order has enough preparation time.
Good to know: Lead time is calculated from the current date, not from when you accept the enquiry. If a product has a 5-day lead time and today is Monday, the earliest available date is Saturday.

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How Lead Time Connects to the Backward Scheduler

Lead times also feed into the backward scheduler on The Sweet Spot. When an order is confirmed, Knead works backward from the delivery date to calculate when production must start for each product. Products with longer lead times trigger earlier production start dates. For example:
ProductLead TimeDelivery DateProduction Starts
Wedding cake14 daysMarch 22March 8
Sugar cookies3 daysMarch 22March 19
Bread loaves1 dayMarch 22March 21
This keeps your production schedule realistic and prevents bottlenecks.

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Choosing the Right Lead Time

Think about the full timeline for each product:
  • Sourcing: Do you need to order specialty ingredients?
  • Preparation: Does the product have multi-day steps like soaking fruit, chilling dough, or drying fondant decorations?
  • Production: How long does the actual baking, assembly, and decorating take?
  • Buffer: Is there room for a batch that does not turn out right?
Start with your best estimate and adjust as you learn. You can change a product’s lead time at any time without affecting existing orders.
Pro tip: Set a short default lead time (2-3 days) for most products to give yourself breathing room. Reserve longer lead times for complex custom work.

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Products Without Lead Time

If you do not set a lead time, the product has no minimum ordering window. Customers can select any available date, including tomorrow. This works for items you can produce on short notice, but keep your capacity limits in mind.
Still need help? Contact us