Emplas customers can see lead times ahead of time, and before they place an order.

Jody Vincent, sales director at Emplas, said that the system was now being used by more than 90% of its customers to help them plan their own schedules more effectively.

He said: “It’s not lead times that have hurt our installers in the last 12 months. It’s uncertainty.

“We’ve taken the decision to make lead times available in real time to our customers because it gives them certainty.

“They can see what our lead times are on standard product and foils and if they’re going to work for them – or if they’re not.

“We know we may lose the odd job because someone’s going to need something quicker, but our customers will also know that when they place an order with us, they’ll get it on time and in full.

“That for us and, we believe, for them is more important than shorter lead times.”

The new Capacity Checker uses Emplas’s bar-code and number-crunching software, to deliver an accurate analysis of what’s in production and schedule allowing Emplas to accurately map future capacity on a week-by-week basis.

It’s then published by Emplas in a colour-coded dashboard, which shows which weeks are already filled, and which are fully open for orders, going from green, to amber, through to red, based on the capacity remaining in that week.