Key Concept: Tolerance Window

Before looking at operators, it is important to understand how the tolerance window is calculated.

What is a tolerance window?

The tolerance window defines a range of acceptable dates around the purchase order promised delivery date.

Example:

• Purchase Order Date: 9 January

• Tolerance Days: 3

• Tolerance Window: 6 January → 12 January

Only the selected Allowed Tolerance Days (weekdays) are counted when calculating this window.

Visual Timeline Example

← Past                           Future →
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
     6 Jan      9 Jan      12 Jan
   (Start)    (PO Date)     (End)

Operator Behavior Explained with Examples

• Equals (=)

  • Meaning: The line item delivery date must fall inside the tolerance window.

  • Valid Dates:

    • Any date between 6 Jan and 12 Jan (inclusive)

  • Invalid Dates:

    • Any date before 6 Jan

    • Any date after 12 Jan

• Not Equals (≠)

  • Meaning: The line item delivery date must fall outside the tolerance window.

  • Valid Dates:

    • Any date before 6 Jan

    • Any date after 12 Jan

  • Invalid Dates:

    • Dates between 6 Jan and 12 Jan

• Greater or Equals (≥)

  • Meaning: The line item delivery date must be on or after the start of the tolerance window.

  • Valid Dates:

    • 6 Jan → any future date

  • Invalid Dates:

    • Any date before 6 Jan

  • Important: This operator allows dates inside the tolerance window and beyond it.

• Lesser or Equals (≤)

  • Meaning: The line item delivery date must be on or before the end of the tolerance window.

  • Valid Dates:

    • Any past date up to 12 Jan

  • Invalid Dates:

    • Any date after 12 Jan

• Greater Than (>)

  • Meaning: The line item delivery date must be strictly after the tolerance window.

  • Valid Dates:

    • 13 Jan → any future date

  • Invalid Dates:

    • Any date on or before 12 Jan

• Lesser Than (<)

  • Meaning: The line item delivery date must be strictly before the tolerance window.

  • Valid Dates:

    • Any date before 6 Jan

  • Invalid Dates:

    • Any date on or after 6 Jan

How “Allowed Tolerance Days” Affect the Tolerance Window

When calculating the tolerance window, only the selected weekdays are counted. Days that are not selected (such as weekends or excluded weekdays) are skipped entirely

Example: Weekday-Based Tolerance Calculation

Configuration:

• Purchase Order Date: Wednesday, 9 January

• Tolerance Days: 3

• Allowed Tolerance Days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

• Weekends (Saturday, Sunday): Not selected

Step-by-Step Calculation

Starting from the PO date (9 Jan):

Counting backward (3 tolerance days):

• Tuesday, 8 Jan → Day 1

• Monday, 7 Jan → Day 2

• Sunday, 6 Jan → Skipped (not allowed)

• Saturday, 5 Jan → Skipped (not allowed)

• Friday, 4 Jan → Day 3

➡ Tolerance start date: Friday, 4 January

Counting forward (3 tolerance days):

• Thursday, 10 Jan → Day 1

• Friday, 11 Jan → Day 2

• Saturday, 12 Jan → Skipped

• Sunday, 13 Jan → Skipped

• Monday, 14 Jan → Day 3

➡ Tolerance end date: Monday, 14 January

Resulting Tolerance Window

4 January  →  14 January

Why This Matters

If Allowed Tolerance Days are configured incorrectly:

• Delivery dates may appear unexpectedly valid or invalid

• Early or late deliveries may not be detected correctly