OTIF – How To Meet Delivery Appointments

The Walmart OTIF compliance program has many nuances and can cause significant hits to your bottom line if it’s not met. It’s all about delivering your products On Time and In Full to Walmart distribution centers. A key part of meeting the OTIF requirements for all prepaid suppliers is scheduling delivery appointments within the must arrive by date (MABD) window of the PO.

What is MABD?

Walmart will include a Must Arrive by Date (MABD) on each purchase order. This date indicates when your product must be delivered to Walmart to meet Walmart’s on-time requirements for that PO.

If an order is delivered outside of this MABD delivery window, that order will be seen as either early or late and your OTIF score will be affected, potentially incurring fines from Walmart.

What are the Delivery Windows?

MABD is only a single date, however, the window that the product must be delivered will vary based on the department of the product being purchased. As of 3/26/2021, there are four delivery windows:

• MABD
• MABD-1 Day
• MABD-2 Days
• MABD-3 Days

The MABD window means the product must be delivered on the exact MABD date.

The MABD-1 Day window means the product must be delivered the day before or the day of the MABD date.

The MABD-2 Days window means the product must be delivered up to two days before or the day of the MABD date.

The MABD-3 Days window means the product must be delivered up to three days before or the day of the MABD date.

Related Reading: OTIF Best Practices

Delivery Windows by Mode and Network*

*as of 3/26/2021

The delivery window for live appointment POs is exactly the MABD, not a day before or after.

For drop trailer POs, the delivery windows are as follows:

Network	Mode	Delivery Windows
Perishables	All modes	On the MABD
High-Velocity DC (HVDC)	All modes	MABD-1 Day
Automated Consolidation Center (ACC)	All modes	MABD-1 Day
Regional DC (RDC)	Full Truckload	MABD-2 Days
Fulfillment Center (FC)	Full Truckload	MABD-2 Days
Fashion DC (FDC)	Full Truckload	MABD-2 Days
Regional DC (RDC)	LTL	MABD-3 Days
Fulfillment Center (FC)	LTL	MABD-3 Days
Fashion DC (FDC)	LTL	MABD-3 Days

OTIF Delivery Windows for Drop Trailer Shipments

When combining POs onto single shipments, your transportation team should take extra care to ensure that the shipment will arrive within the MABD windows of every PO on the shipment.

Keep track of these delivery windows when scheduling appointments or rescheduling appointments to ensure that your appointment time falls within the MABD delivery window, or else your OTIF score, and your fines will be affected.