Warehouse Reporting
Part of Fulfilment performance reporting
Comparing on-time dispatch with delivery performance
Define separate dispatch and delivery commitments, calculate rates and keep missing parcel outcomes visible.
Report on-time dispatch and on-time delivery separately. Dispatch asks whether a required parcel reached the carrier by its dispatch commitment. Delivery asks whether the parcel reached the agreed customer outcome by the delivery commitment. Either result can be on time while the other is late.
Record the promises and events
For every parcel due to leave, keep its dispatch deadline, customer delivery commitment, handover evidence and delivery evidence. Record the time zone and cut-off rule. If checkout showed an estimate rather than a firm delivery promise, label the comparison accordingly. For a split order, define whether an order-level result passes only when every required parcel passes.
Use physical handover evidence for dispatch where available. A label, tracking number or electronic manifest can exist before the carrier has the parcel.
Australia Post’s published status definitions separate preliminary shipment states from pickup and delivery states. They also separate a StarTrack consignment marked “Delivered”, which can cover some or all freight items, from “Delivered in Full”. Check the event and item level used in the actual carrier connection.
Parcel Lifecycle: From Dispatch to Delivery in Australia
- Dispatch DeadlineTime by which parcel must be handed over to carrier (e.g., Australia Post cut-off)
- Handover EvidencePhysical proof such as label, tracking number, or electronic manifest showing carrier receipt
- Carrier Scan EventsTracking updates from Australia Post or StarTrack; distinguish between 'Delivered' and 'Delivered in Full'
- Delivery CommitmentAgreed delivery date communicated to customer (e.g., via Shopify order tracking)
- Final Delivery ConfirmationEvent confirming full delivery, especially important for split orders
Calculate rates without hiding unknowns
Confirmed on-time dispatch rate: parcels with a dispatch deadline in the selected period and qualifying handover evidence no later than that deadline, divided by all eligible parcels whose dispatch deadline has passed.
Confirmed on-time delivery rate: parcels with a delivery commitment due in the selected period and qualifying delivery evidence by that commitment, divided by all eligible parcels whose delivery commitment has passed.
Show the counts of confirmed late, still open and unknown outcomes beside each rate. A missing carrier scan is not proof of late delivery or successful delivery. The confirmed on-time rate is therefore a lower bound when outcome coverage is incomplete; report the evidence coverage as well. Apply stated rules to cancellations, collection orders, delivery attempts and customer collection arrangements.
Operational dispatch and delivery rates usually use different due-date cohorts. To compare the two outcomes for the same parcels, use a matched cohort whose dispatch and delivery deadlines have both passed, and show any records that remain unknown. Parcels whose delivery commitment is still in the future belong in a pending group.
| Dispatch | Delivery | First question |
|---|---|---|
| On time | On time | Do the promises and parcel IDs match the evidence? |
| Late | On time | Was there enough transit allowance, or was the dispatch target conservative? |
| On time | Late | What do the carrier events and delivery exceptions show? |
| Late | Late | Where did the delay first occur, and was there a recovery? |
The table guides investigation; it does not assign fault.
Confirmed On-time Rates: Dispatch and Delivery
- Confirmed On-time Dispatch RateCalculated as parcels with handover evidence by dispatch deadline ÷ eligible parcels with passed dispatch deadlines
- Confirmed On-time Delivery RateCalculated as parcels with delivery evidence by commitment date ÷ eligible parcels with passed delivery commitments
- Missing OutcomesInclude counts of late, still open, and unknown outcomes to ensure transparency
Reconcile before changing a target
Inspect affected parcels by warehouse, service, destination and promise type. Check that the stored promise is the one communicated to the customer, rather than a date reconstructed after service selection. Match each tracking ID to its physical parcel and each delivered event to the correct part of a split order.
Investigate missing carrier events and unmatched handover records as data-quality cases. Then decide whether a warehouse cut-off, carrier service rule, collection arrangement or customer promise needs changing. Continue to show dispatch and delivery together so an improvement at one boundary does not obscure the other.
