Lead time
/glossary/lead-timeInterval from an agreed commercial trigger to a named readiness or delivery event.
Lead time is the clock from an accepted PO and cleared payment to goods ready at the Kanpur yard, or to a named delivery place. This page publishes three planning bands: stock 3-7 days, mill-direct standard grades 14-21 days, mill-direct alloy SA213 T11/T22 21-30 days. RP Sales replies to an RFQ within 4 working hours. Ask the offer to print the dispatch date for that size.
In detail
Lead time runs from an agreed trigger (accepted PO and cleared payment, or approved drawings) to a named event (ready for collection at the Kanpur yard, or delivered to a named place). This glossary publishes three planning bands used across the site: stock 3-7 days, mill-direct standard grades 14-21 days, and mill-direct alloy SA213 T11/T22 21-30 days. TPI visits and IBR form issue sit after mill readiness. Form III-B is the tube certificate; Form III-C covers boiler mountings and fittings.
What lead time is, and what it is not
Lead time has two ends. The start is the commercial trigger the PO names: accepted order and cleared payment, or approved drawings released to the mill. The finish is the event the offer names: ready for collection at Bartan Bazar, or delivered to a PIN code.
This entry is the site source for three planning bands. Stock items: 3-7 days. Mill-direct standard grades: 14-21 days. Mill-direct alloy grades (SA213 T11/T22): 21-30 days. Other glossary pages that cite those numbers point here.
Lead time is not the RFQ reply. The buying-guide clock for an RP Sales technical and commercial offer is 4 working hours. That clock stops when the offer lands. It does not start the 3-7 day stock band.
Lead time is not an Incoterm. EXW and DAP set who pays freight and where risk passes. FOR is a commercial rail term, not one of the eleven Incoterms 2020 rules. Write the delivery basis on a second line.
Lead time is not a live stock figure. Stock on this site is not a published inventory feed. A size that left last week can sit in the mill-direct band this week.
Who should plan against which band
A Coolie Bazar or Fazalganj contractor picking IS 1239 Medium from the rack plans against the stock band of 3-7 days, after payment clears. A Panki boiler shop indenting SA213 T11 plans against 21-30 days plus the IBR and TPI hold points.
PWD and JJM tender teams should put the ready date on the comparison sheet next to GST 18% and freight. A bid that uses the 3-7 day band on a mill-direct alloy line will miss the shutdown.
Sugar mills in the Bundelkhand and central-UP belt book water-wall SA210 and superheater T11 against the outage calendar. Use 14-21 days for standard mill-direct carbon and 21-30 days for T11/T22. Then add the Form III-B issue, not Form III-C.
Hydraulic and printing-cylinder shops in Dada Nagar should treat honed or SRB finishing as a second operation after the mother tube is ready. That finish is not inside the 3-7 day stock band unless the offer says the finished bore is on the rack.
Do not open an LC to "speed up" a stock pickup. UCP 600 sub-article 14 (b) caps bank examination at a maximum of five banking days after presentation; it is not a fixed delay that occurs on every LC. That cap sits beside, and often after, the 3-7 day stock band.
Planning bands for Kanpur pipe orders
The table is the planning sheet this glossary publishes. Endpoints are accepted PO plus cleared payment to goods ready at the Kanpur yard, unless the row says delivered. GST 18% extra sits on the tax invoice, not on the day count.
| Route | Planning band | Typical Kanpur line | What sits after the band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yard stock | 3-7 days | IS 1239 / GI on the rack | Loading, e-way bill, freight |
| Mill-direct standard | 14-21 days | A106, SA192, SA210 carbon | Cut-to-length, TPI, Form III-B if a tube |
| Mill-direct alloy | 21-30 days | SA213 T11 / T22 | Heat treatment records, Form III-B, TPI |
| RFQ reply | 4 working hours | Any complete RFQ | PO, payment, then the band above |
| LC presentation exam | Up to 5 banking days (UCP 600 14(b) cap) | Export or PSU credit | After documents reach the bank |
TPI by SGS, Bureau Veritas, Lloyds, or TUV is a hold point after the mill says the heat is ready. IBR Form III-B is the tube certificate. Form III-C is the certificate for boiler mountings and fittings and is not a 5-10 day adder on a tube heat.
How to put dates on an RFQ
A complete RFQ lets the 4-hour reply name a date. A vague "ASAP boiler tube" reply cannot pick a band.
- Trigger: accepted PO and payment term (100% advance, staged, or LC).
- Finish event: ready at Bartan Bazar, or delivered to a named PIN.
- Line: process, grade, OD, wall or class, length, quantity, end finish, coating.
- Documents: EN 10204 3.1 or 3.2, Form III-B if the line is an IBR tube, Form III-C if it is a mounting or fitting.
- Inspection: TPI agency and hold points, or buyer collection before loading.
- Need-by date for the shutdown or tender milestone, so the offer can say yes or no.
- Delivery basis: ex-warehouse Kanpur or FOR destination. GST 18% extra.
Worked clock for 100 lengths of 50 NB Medium
Use the site formula once so the tonnage and the band sit on the same sheet. W = (OD − t) × t × 0.02466 kg/m.
The generated weight row for 50 NB uses OD 60.3 mm and Medium wall 3.6 mm. W = (60.3 − 3.6) × 3.6 × 0.02466 = 5.03 kg/m. One 6 m length is 30.2 kg. One hundred lengths are 3.02 MT.
The MS ERW band for 50 NB Medium is ₹53-60 per kg ex-warehouse Kanpur as of 24 May 2026. Steel value on that band is about ₹1.60 lakh to ₹1.81 lakh before GST and freight. If those 100 lengths are on the rack, plan 3-7 days after payment. If the mill must roll them, plan 14-21 days.
A Panki fabricator who needs the lot next week should pay 100% advance and collect from the yard. An LC on 3.02 MT of stock ERW carries a bank examination window of up to five banking days after presentation, on top of the mill and yard timeline. That is the wrong instrument for a 3-7 day band.
Common planning mistakes
In practice, a JJM contractor copies the 3-7 day band onto a special OD that is mill-direct. The truck then misses the Jal Nigam milestone. Match the band to the route: stock, standard mill, or alloy mill.
A second failure is counting Form III-C as a 5-10 day adder on boiler tubes. Form III-C is the certificate for mountings and fittings. Tubes take Form III-B. Book the Inspecting Authority against III-B.
A third failure is starting the stock band on the RFQ date. The band starts after the PO is accepted and payment clears. The 4-hour reply is a different clock.
A fourth failure is treating MOQ as extra days. MOQ is a quantity gate. A mill that will not roll 1 MT still quotes 14-21 days once the tonnage clears the gate.
A fifth failure is a sugar-mill outage booked against T11 using the carbon 14-21 day band. Alloy on this page is 21-30 days before TPI and Form III-B.
Documents that move the ready date
EN 10204 3.1 travels with every RP Sales dispatch. Type 3.2 waits for a third-party signature. That wait sits after the mill says the heat is ready.
IBR Form III-B names manufacturer, heat, specification, dimensions, chemistry, mechanicals, heat treatment, and the Inspecting Authority stamp. Form III-A is the steam-pipe form. Form III-C is the mounting-and-fitting form. Pick the form that matches the component.
TPI agencies named on this site are SGS, Bureau Veritas, Lloyds, and TUV. The inspector's diary is not the mill rolling slot. Write both dates on the offer.
Cut-to-length, threading, galvanizing to the amended IS 4736 minimum average zinc mass of 360 g/m², and bevel all sit after the mother pipe is ready. Name those operations so they do not hide inside the 3-7 day band.
Planning a Kanpur dispatch
The yard address is 83/124, Steel Market, Bartan Bazar, Afim Kothi, Basanti Nagar, Juhi, Kanpur 208014. Collection against challan is the fastest finish event for a local buyer. Intra-city runs to Dada Nagar (about 8 km), Jajmau (about 10 km), and Panki (about 12 km) use that same gate.
The site FAQ lists daily movement across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi NCR, and Uttarakhand as the service area. Lucknow is the 80 km NH-27 run on steel pipes in Lucknow. Unnao is 18 km on steel pipes in Unnao. Prayagraj, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Bareilly, Agra, and Patna take the same ex-warehouse origin plus a freight line.
See Kanpur steel market, steel pipes in Kanpur, FAQ, and payment terms. A delivered date is the yard-ready date plus transit. Do not compress both into the 3-7 day stock band.
E-way bill, packing list, and dispatch challan print on the loading day. Heat numbers on the stencil must match those papers. A missing MTC holds the truck even when the steel is on the bay.
Stock versus mill-direct versus indent
Stock means the size, class, and documents are physically at the Kanpur yard. The 3-7 day band is for that case. It is not a promise that every NB on the price list is on the rack this morning.
Mill-direct standard covers carbon seamless and common ERW that the mill will roll against the PO. The 14-21 day band is the planning number on this page. Quantity, mill slot, and test scope still move the printed date.
Indent alloy is SA213 T11 and T22 on this site. The 21-30 day band is the planning number. Heat treatment, hardness, and Form III-B are why that band is longer than carbon.
Honed barrels, SRB, and IBR-stamped cuts are operations on top of those bands. Write them as extra lines so a Dada Nagar shop does not read 3-7 days on a bore that still needs a hone pass.
Payment clocks next to the dispatch clock
First-time private buyers still settle 100% advance on the proforma. The stock band starts when that credit lands, not when the WhatsApp RFQ was sent.
Staged advance plus CAD fits a first mill-direct relationship. Name the stage that releases rolling and the stage that releases loading.
LC is accepted at RP Sales on export and large public-sector contracts. UCP 600 Article 5 treats banks as dealing with documents. Article 10 blocks a silent amendment of the ready date. Sub-article 14 (b) gives the bank five banking days after presentation.
GST 18% extra is the budgeting basis on the dated price lists. The tax invoice applies the rate in force. Bank charges are not GST and are not lead time.
Shutdown and tender calendars
A sugar-mill outage is a hard finish event. Count backward from the first cut-in date: 21-30 days for T11/T22, then Form III-B, then freight from Kanpur to the mill. Put that stack on the RFQ so the offer can refuse an impossible week.
A PWD or JJM opening date is also a hard finish event. Stock ERW in 3-7 days can still miss it if payment is late or if the BOQ mixes Light and Medium. Freeze class and NB before you start the band.
Boiler maintenance windows at Panki process heaters follow the same backward count. Carbon SA192 / SA210 uses 14-21 days when the heat is mill-direct. Do not borrow the alloy 21-30 day band for carbon, and do not borrow 14-21 for T22.
If the need-by date is inside the band, say so on the RFQ. The 4-hour reply can then offer a different size, a partial lot, or a later window. Silence is how a 3.02 MT stock lot is promised into a two-day hole.
Where you'll meet this in procurement
You will meet Lead time when setting commercial and logistics terms. Spell out Lead time on the RFQ or PO so price, quantity, delivery point, and lead time are comparable across suppliers and disputes at dispatch are avoided.
Related terms
Related resources
Key points
- Lead time runs from an agreed trigger to a named ready or delivered event. This page publishes stock 3-7 days, mill-direct 14-21 days, and alloy T11/T22 21-30 days.
- RP Sales replies to RFQs within 4 working hours. That reply is not the start of the stock band.
- Form III-B is the IBR tube certificate. Form III-C covers mountings and fittings. Neither form is a hidden day adder on the wrong component.
- UCP 600 sub-article 14 (b) caps bank examination at a maximum of five banking days after presentation. Do not use an LC to chase a 3-7 day stock pickup.
- One hundred 6 m lengths of 50 NB Medium are 3.02 MT at 5.03 kg/m. The dated MS ERW band is ex-warehouse Kanpur with GST 18% extra.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- UCP 600 (2007 Revision). ICC Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits: examination period in sub-article 14 (b); banks deal with documents (Art. 5); amendments (Art. 10) (ICC Academy / International Chamber of Commerce)
- Indian Boiler Regulations, 1950. Forms index: III-A steam pipes, III-B tubes, III-C boiler mountings and fittings (Central Boilers Board, Government of India)
- IS 4736:1986 Amendment 3 (2002). Hot-dip zinc coatings on steel tubes: minimum average zinc-coating mass 360 g/m² (as used on this site) (Bureau of Indian Standards)
- ASTM A213/A213M-25. Seamless ferritic and austenitic alloy-steel boiler, superheater, and heat-exchanger tubes (T11/T22 indent route cited in the 21-30 day band) (ASTM International)