Supplier lead time tracker · updated November 2, 2026
87 days.
And still rising.
The average lead time for production materials in US manufacturing, Oct 2026. Every month, the public ISM figures buyers and planners need to check their reorder points, in one place, with the source of each number.
- Production materials lead time
- 87 days
- 3 more days vs Sep 2026; 81 days in Nov 2025.
- Supplier Deliveries Index
- 59.1
- Above 50 means slower deliveries. 11 months in a row.
- Inventories Index
- 51.4
- Manufacturers are adding stock (Sep 2026: 48.6).
- Prices Index
- 75.2
- Above 50 means prices paid are rising (Sep 2026: 77.9).
Source: ISM Manufacturing PMI Report, Oct 2026, released November 2, 2026.
Twelve months of lead times.
From 81 days in Nov 2025 to 87 days in Oct 2026. A reorder point set a year ago assumes the shorter number.
The data, month by month.
Lead times are averages in days. Indexes are diffusion indexes: above 50 means more respondents reported an increase (or, for Supplier Deliveries, slower deliveries) than a decrease. Values are as first published; ISM revises seasonal factors once a year.
| Month | Production materials | MRO | Capital equipment | Supplier Deliveries | Inventories | Customers' Inv. | Prices | PMI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2026 | 87 | 46 | 175 | 59.1 | 51.4 | 41.6 | 75.2 | 55.5 |
| Sep 2026 | 84 | 49 | 176 | 59 | 48.6 | 41.6 | 77.9 | 54.5 |
| Aug 2026 | 84 | 48 | 171 | 59.3 | 50.6 | 42.8 | 71.1 | 54.6 |
| Jul 2026 | 87 | 50 | 172 | 58.9 | 51.2 | 40.7 | 71.1 | 55.6 |
| Jun 2026 | 84 | 48 | 171 | 57.4 | 51.4 | 42.3 | 73 | 53.3 |
| May 2026 | 81 | 48 | 171 | 60.6 | 49.9 | 42.7 | 82.1 | 54 |
| Apr 2026 | 81 | 46 | 174 | 60.6 | 49 | 39.1 | 84.6 | 52.7 |
| Mar 2026 | 82 | 44 | 170 | 58.9 | 47.1 | 40.1 | 78.3 | 52.7 |
| Feb 2026 | 79 | 46 | 179 | 55.1 | 48.8 | 38.8 | 70.5 | 52.4 |
| Jan 2026 | 79 | 41 | 172 | 54.4 | 47.6 | 38.7 | 59 | 52.6 |
| Dec 2025 | 77 | 49 | 177 | 50.8 | 45.2 | 43.3 | 58.5 | 47.9 |
| Nov 2025 | 81 | 47 | 171 | 49.3 | 48.9 | 44.7 | 58.5 | 48.2 |
In short supply, Oct 2026.
As listed by ISM. The number in parentheses is how many consecutive months the item has been reported short.
- Aluminum Products (2)
- Copper (4)
- Electrical Components (16)
- Electronic Components (20)
- Integrated Circuits
- Memory (10)
- Printed Circuit Boards (4)
- Steel (4)
What to do with it.
An ISM average is a survey, not a quote from your suppliers. It tells you the planned lead times in your ERP may be older than the ones your suppliers now give you. The check takes about 45 minutes with exports you already run.
- Export received purchase order lines for the last six months.
- Compute the median order-to-receipt time per supplier and item.
- Compare it with the planned lead time in the item master; flag gaps above 10 percent or one week.
- Recompute the reorder point on the measured lead time for the flagged items.
- Check today's days of cover against the open orders of those items.
The full exercise, with a worked example, is in Run the Risk No. 06. Each Tuesday, Run the Risk takes one public number like these and turns it into a check your team can run.
Questions.
- What is the average supplier lead time for production materials?
- 87 days in Oct 2026, according to the Institute for Supply Management's Manufacturing PMI Report released on November 2, 2026. It was 84 days in Sep 2026 and 81 days in Nov 2025.
- What does the ISM Supplier Deliveries Index measure?
- Whether suppliers are delivering faster or slower than the month before, as reported by purchasing managers. Above 50 means slower deliveries; below 50 means faster. Slower deliveries usually signal strong demand on suppliers or supply constraints.
- Are supplier deliveries getting slower?
- In Oct 2026, the Supplier Deliveries Index was 59.1, the 11th consecutive month above 50, which means deliveries were slower than the month before.
- Which materials are in short supply?
- ISM's Oct 2026 list: Aluminum Products (2), Copper (4), Electrical Components (16), Electronic Components (20), Integrated Circuits, Memory (10), Printed Circuit Boards (4), Steel (4). The number in parentheses is how many consecutive months the item has been reported in short supply.
- Does a longer ISM lead time mean my own suppliers are slower?
- Not necessarily. ISM averages what purchasing managers across US manufacturing report. Your own receipts are the only way to know whether your suppliers changed: compare the order-to-receipt time of recent purchase orders with the planned lead time in your ERP.
- How often is this tracker updated?
- Once a month, after ISM publishes its Manufacturing PMI Report on the first business day of the month. Each row links to the release it comes from.
Sources and method
All figures are from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Manufacturing PMI Report, read on ISM's official press release for each month and linked in the table. WERISCO compiles them; it does not adjust, estimate or forecast any value. ISM's Report On Business is a survey of purchasing and supply executives at US manufacturers. Cite this page as: WERISCO, Supplier lead time tracker, from ISM Manufacturing PMI Report data, Oct 2026.
WERISCO is an AI engineering company; its first product, the AI supply chain control tower, shows where reorder points were set for lead times your suppliers no longer quote, from your own ERP data. See it on your data.
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