Cycle time in days to issue a purchase order for goods and services (purchase requisition to purchase order)

This measure calculates average time taken in days (including weekends) to issue a purchase order for goods or services, starting from when a purchase requisition is received and ending when a purchase order is released to the supplier. A purchase order (or supplier order) is a form used by the purchasing department to order goods or services. For our purposes, this does not include any change orders. Typically, a purchase order contains information regarding the items to be purchased, the person or department placing the order, and any special delivery terms the circumstances may dictate. A purchase order may be in either hard copy or electronic form. Cycle time is the total time from the beginning of a process or activity to the end. This includes both time spent actually performing the process or activity and time spent waiting to move forward. A purchase requisition is generated when a department requires goods or services. Each individual item by line on the requisition is considered to be a purchase requisition line item for purposes of this survey. For example, a requisition for one line requesting three 5 lb. bags of red material and a second line requesting five 10 lb. bags of white material would be considered two purchase requisition line items. The requisition will then be submitted to the purchasing department for processing and approval before the purchase order is placed. This Cycle Time measure is intended to help companies analyze this duration related to the process "Order materials and services".