Four to six weeks ahead: catching material risk before it bites

Most material shortages are visible weeks in advance — if someone is doing the arithmetic every day across every order. No one has time to.

A standing calculation, not a monthly report

The sourcing agent keeps a continuous figure: demand equals BOM times plan, minus stock, minus what is already incoming. When the gap threatens a deadline, it raises an alert.

The result is four to six weeks of lead time on risk that used to surface only when a line ran dry.