3 Supplier Metrics VNDLY Tracks Automatically [2026]
Stop guessing which suppliers are reliable. VNDLY auto-calculates lead time, variance, and on-time delivery from your purchase orders. Here's how to use them.
Most small businesses know which suppliers they like. Few can prove why with data.
You might have a gut feeling that Supplier A is more reliable than Supplier B. But when a container shows up two weeks late and you are scrambling to explain the delay to a customer, gut feelings do not help much. What helps is a number. A lead time average. A variance score. An on-time percentage that updates every time you receive a purchase order.
That is exactly what VNDLY's supplier performance page gives you. It watches every PO you create, every delivery date you record, and every actual receipt you log. Then it calculates three metrics automatically. No spreadsheets. No manual data entry. No forgetting to update the tracker because you were busy putting out fires.
In this guide, I will walk you through what those three metrics mean, where to find them in VNDLY, and how to turn them into better purchasing decisions.
What VNDLY Calculates Automatically
Every time you mark a purchase order as received in VNDLY, the system runs a quick calculation on that supplier's last 50 completed orders. It stores the results on the supplier record and displays them in the Supplier Performance overview. Here are the three numbers you get.
1. Average Lead Time
This is the average number of days between when you place a PO and when the goods actually arrive. VNDLY calculates it from the PO creation date and the actual delivery date you enter during receiving.
Why this matters: if your supplier's average lead time is 28 days but you have been planning reorders around the 21 days they promised, you are going to run into stockouts. The average lead time tells you what to expect in reality, not in a sales brochure.
⚡ Pro Tip
Compare the average lead time to the lead time you have entered on the supplier record. If the actual average is 10 days longer than what you planned for, update the supplier's lead time field so VNDLY's stock projection and reorder alerts stay accurate.
2. Lead Time Variance
This shows how consistent your supplier's delivery times are. It is displayed as a standard deviation in days, formatted like "±4.2 d" in the performance table. A low variance means the supplier hits roughly the same lead time every order. A high variance means delivery windows swing wildly.
Why this matters: a supplier with a 30-day average and ±3-day variance is predictable. You can plan around them with tight safety stock. A supplier with a 30-day average and ±12-day variance is a wildcard. You will need higher safety stock, earlier reorder triggers, or a backup supplier to cover the gaps.
3. On-Time Delivery Rate
This is the percentage of orders delivered on or before the expected delivery date you set on the PO. VNDLY only counts orders that had an expected date entered, so make sure you are filling in the Expected Delivery Date field when you create purchase orders. Otherwise, the system has nothing to measure against.
The on-time rate is color-coded in the performance table:
- Green badge (>90%): reliable supplier. You can plan tightly around them.
- Outline badge (70-90%): acceptable but watch closely. Consider adding buffer days to their lead time.
- Red badge (<70%): problem supplier. You either need a conversation about delivery commitments, a backup vendor, or a change in how you plan around them.
Where to Find Supplier Performance in VNDLY
The supplier performance data lives at Suppliers > Performance. You can also get to it from the main Suppliers list by clicking any supplier name and viewing their detail page, where the metrics appear in the overview.
On the Performance page, you will see a table titled "Performance overview" with five columns:
| Column | What It Shows | |--------|---------------| | Supplier | Supplier name, linked to their detail page | | Avg Lead Time | Average days from PO to delivery | | Variance | Standard deviation of lead times (±X d) | | On-Time % | Color-coded badge showing delivery reliability | | Orders | Total completed orders included in the calculation |
The table is sortable by any column. Click a column header to sort ascending, click again to sort descending. This makes it easy to spot your worst performers at a glance. Sort by On-Time % descending to see your best suppliers first, or sort by Variance ascending to find your most predictable ones.
The Catch
Performance metrics only update when you mark a PO as received with an actual delivery date. If you never record receipt dates, the table stays empty. Make receiving POs in VNDLY part of your workflow. If you need help with that, read our guide on purchase order receiving in VNDLY.
How the Metrics Update
VNDLY recalculates a supplier's performance stats automatically when you receive a purchase order for that supplier. The calculation looks at the last 50 completed orders to keep the data fresh and relevant. If a supplier's performance improves or drops over time, you will see the shift reflected within a few orders.
The metrics are stored directly on the supplier record, so they also show up in supplier detail pages and can be referenced in planning reports. When you are looking at the Product Table in the Planning module and expanding a row to see supplier info, the average lead time and on-time rate from the performance calculation are what you see there.
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Try VNDLY free →How to Use These Metrics in Practice
Having the numbers is only half the battle. Here is how to turn them into action.
Reorder Earlier for High-Variance Suppliers
If a supplier has a 45-day average lead time with ±10-day variance, do not plan reorders around 45 days. Plan around 55. VNDLY's stock projection chart uses the lead time you have entered on the supplier record, not the performance average, so update that field when you spot a gap between promise and reality.
Negotiate with Data, Not Complaints
Telling a supplier "you are always late" is vague and easy to dismiss. Telling them "your on-time rate dropped from 88% to 62% over the last 12 orders, and our average lead time has stretched from 21 to 34 days" is specific and hard to argue with. Print the performance table before your next supplier review meeting.
Spot Backup Supplier Candidates
Sort your performance table by On-Time % ascending. The suppliers at the bottom of the list are your risk factors. If one of them supplies a critical component and their on-time rate is sitting in the red, it is time to qualify a second source. VNDLY cannot find the backup supplier for you, but it can tell you exactly who needs one.
Validate Promised Lead Times
When a new supplier tells you they deliver in 14 days, create a few POs, receive them properly, and check the actual average after 5-10 orders. If the real number is 24 days, you have learned something valuable before you built your whole inventory plan around their optimism.
From the Founder
We had one supplier who consistently promised 3-week deliveries and consistently took 5. For months I thought it was just bad luck. A port delay here, a customs hold there. Then we started tracking actual receipt dates in a spreadsheet and the pattern was obvious. The supplier was not unlucky. They were just wrong about their own capacity. We adjusted our reorder point and added 14 days of buffer, and our stockouts from that category dropped to zero. That lesson is why VNDLY auto-calculates this now. You should not need a spreadsheet to spot a supplier who is systematically late.
Related Features and Next Steps
Supplier performance tracking is just one part of a tight purchasing workflow. Here is how it connects to the rest of VNDLY.
Purchase Orders: The source of all performance data. If you are not creating POs in VNDLY yet, start there. Our complete wholesale purchase order guide walks through the full workflow from draft to delivery.
Planning Reports: VNDLY's planning module uses supplier lead times to calculate reorder points and stockout warnings. Accurate lead times mean accurate plans. Check out 5 VNDLY planning reports that prevent stockouts.
Price Drift Alerts: Supplier performance is not just about timing. If a supplier keeps raising prices without telling you, your margins erode silently. Read about supplier price drift and how to stop it.
Receiving Workflow: Performance stats update when you receive POs. If your warehouse team is not recording actual delivery dates during receipt, the metrics will not populate. Make sure everyone knows to fill in that field.
If you run a wholesale or distribution business, supplier reliability is one of the biggest variables in your entire operation. Getting it visible and measured is a huge step toward getting it under control. If you are evaluating inventory tools for your wholesale business, see how VNDLY handles inventory management for wholesalers.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many orders does VNDLY look at for performance calculations?
VNDLY uses the last 50 completed orders per supplier. This keeps the metrics responsive to recent changes without being skewed by old data from when the supplier had different staffing or processes.
Do I need to enter anything special for the metrics to work?
You need two things: an expected delivery date on the PO, and an actual delivery date when you receive it. The expected date is what on-time performance is measured against. The actual date is what drives the lead time and variance calculations. If you skip either field, that order will not contribute to the metrics.
Can I export the supplier performance data?
The performance table is sortable and filterable in the app. For reporting outside VNDLY, you can export supplier data including performance metrics via the Suppliers page export function, or build custom reports using the Reports module.
What if a supplier has no performance data yet?
New suppliers or suppliers with no received POs will show dashes (-) in the performance table. Once you create and receive a few POs for them, the numbers will populate automatically.
Do performance metrics work for all VNDLY plans?
Yes. Supplier performance tracking is part of the core VNDLY platform and is available on all plans: Starter, Professional, and Enterprise.
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