For a customer, the factory’s work is invisible until the truck arrives. Everything before that – planning, production, inspection – is measured in one number from the customer’s side: how many days from order to dispatch. Inside the plant, the last stretch is often the slowest and least watched. Goods are made but wait for packing, for a document, for a vehicle or for someone to pick the right batch. This guide explains a clean dispatch flow – packing slip with finished-goods batches, then invoice – and how to measure TAT to dispatch so the waiting time becomes visible. It includes a worked example of five orders.
The dispatch chain
- Sales order with delivery schedules per line.
- Finished goods ready – production completed and passed final inspection, in stock by batch.
- Packing slip against the order, listing which finished-goods batches go in which package.
- Tax invoice pulled from the packing slip, so quantities and batches are not keyed again.
- Dispatch – loading, gate out and handover to the transporter.
Each document pulls from the one before. Nothing is typed twice, so the invoice cannot show a quantity the packing slip does not, and the batch on the invoice is the batch that was actually packed.
Why the packing slip matters
- Batch on every package. The customer can trace a complaint to a batch, and the plant can trace it back to raw material – see heat number traceability.
- Right batch out first. For items with a shelf life, picking follows batch and expiry – see FIFO vs FEFO.
- Partial dispatch done properly. When only part of an order is ready, the packing slip records exactly what left, and the balance stays open in the backlog.
- Fewer disputes. Package-wise contents and weights answer most “short received” claims.
TAT to dispatch
TAT to dispatch = dispatch date – order date, in days, per order line. Splitting it into two parts tells you where to look: making (order to finished goods ready) and waiting (ready to dispatched). Plants usually work hard on the first and ignore the second.
Worked example: five orders
Tejaxo Manufacturing (sample data) reviews five recent orders:
| Order | Making | Waiting | TAT |
|---|---|---|---|
| SO-1 | 5 days | 1 days | 6 days |
| SO-2 | 6 days | 4 days | 10 days |
| SO-3 | 3 days | 1 days | 4 days |
| SO-4 | 8 days | 3 days | 11 days |
| SO-5 | 4 days | 1 days | 5 days |
Average TAT is 7.2 days, and only 3 of 5 orders went out within 7 days. But 27.8% of all the days were spent waiting after the goods were ready – SO-2 waited 4 days and SO-4 waited 3. The reasons were ordinary: a missing packing material, an invoice held for a rate query, a vehicle booked late. None of them needed a faster machine; all of them needed someone to look at finished goods waiting for dispatch every morning. Cutting the waiting days in half would bring the average close to six days without changing anything on the shop floor.
Cutting the waiting time
- A “ready, not dispatched” list every morning, oldest first, with the reason each order is waiting.
- Packing material planned with the order, not bought when goods are ready.
- Rate and terms settled at order entry, so invoices are not held for queries.
- Transport booked from the planned completion date, not from the day goods are packed.
- Documents ready in advance – test certificates and customer-specific documents prepared with final inspection.
Final inspection before packing
A packing slip should only be made from finished goods that have passed final inspection. When rejected or held stock sits in the same area as approved stock, the wrong batch can be packed, and the problem surfaces at the customer’s incoming inspection – where it costs a complaint, a return and often a debit note. Keeping inspection status on the batch, and letting the packing slip pick only approved batches, closes that gap. It also gives the quality team a clear picture of how much finished goods are waiting for their decision, which is another source of dispatch delay; see PPM and the defect Pareto.
Dispatching to the customer’s schedule
Many industrial customers send delivery schedules – so many pieces a week, or on fixed days. Dispatching early can be as unwelcome as dispatching late, because the customer has no space or has not planned the receipt. Planning dispatch against the schedule line, not just the order, keeps the customer’s stores happy and spreads the load on packing and transport across the week instead of crowding it into the last days of the month.
Tell the customer before they ask
Customers call because they cannot see where their order is. When order status – in production, ready, packed, invoiced, dispatched – is visible to the customer, most of those calls disappear, and the sales team spends its time selling. Dispatch alerts and invoices sent on WhatsApp do the same job for customers who prefer it; see ERP with WhatsApp automation.
What to measure every week
- Average TAT to dispatch and its two parts, making and waiting.
- Share of orders within the promised days.
- Ready-not-dispatched quantity and its age.
- OTIF – the customer’s view of the same chain; see OTIF and order backlog.
Exports and special documents
Export orders add their own documents – packing list, invoice under LUT or with IGST, shipping bill and later the bank realisation certificate. The same principle applies: build the export invoice from the packing slip, and track documents still pending by order; see export invoicing with LUT and IGST.
How Tejaxo ERP handles it
In Tejaxo ERP the order-to-cash chain runs from CRM and quotation to a sales order with delivery schedules per line, a packing slip with finished-goods batches per order, the tax invoice and the receipt, with bill-wise receipts and ageing. Each document pulls from the one before, so nothing is keyed twice. Batch numbers are carried at every step through to packing slip and invoice. Sales reports include TAT to dispatch, the order backlog, the day-wise schedule, OTIF and order intake, and customers can follow live order status. On WhatsApp, the ERP can send invoices and alerts.
Common mistakes
- Invoicing without a packing slip, so batches on the invoice are guesses.
- Measuring production lead time only, while goods wait days at the dock.
- Partial dispatches not recorded, so the backlog shows orders as fully open or fully closed.
- No owner for dispatch waiting time – production thinks its job ended at “ready”.
Next step
See the packing slip, batch-wise invoice and TAT to dispatch on your own orders in a free demo.
Frequently asked questions
What is TAT to dispatch?
The number of days from receiving an order to dispatching it, measured per order line. Splitting it into making time and waiting time shows where delays really are.
Why use a packing slip before the invoice?
The packing slip records exactly which finished-goods batches went into which package. Building the invoice from it keeps quantities and batches consistent and supports traceability.
How do partial dispatches work?
The packing slip records what was actually dispatched; the invoice follows it, and the balance of the order line stays open in the backlog.
How can dispatch waiting time be reduced?
Review a ready-not-dispatched list every morning, plan packing material and transport from planned completion, and settle rates and documents at order entry.
Can customers see their order status?
In Tejaxo ERP, customers can follow live order status, and invoices and alerts can be sent on WhatsApp.
Does Tejaxo ERP report TAT to dispatch?
Yes. Sales reports include TAT to dispatch, order backlog, day-wise schedule, OTIF and order intake, from orders, packing slips with FG batches and invoices.
