Supply chain execution
Dock date
A dock date is the date material arrives at the receiving facility, as opposed to the date it ships. Confusing the two is a routine cause of shortages, because the transit interval between them can be days or weeks depending on mode and route.
Also known as: delivery date, dock-to-stock date
Ship date is not dock date
When a supplier confirms a date, it frequently means the date it will ship — particularly on ex-works or FCA terms, where its obligation ends at its own door. The buyer, planning production, needs the date the material is available to use.
The gap is the transit time, plus receiving and inspection. On an ocean shipment that gap can exceed a month. Recording a supplier's ship date in a field the planning system reads as a dock date builds a shortage directly into the plan.
This ambiguity is very common in free-text confirmations, where "we'll have it out to you on the 14th" does not distinguish between the two at all.
Why Incoterms matter to the date, not just the cost
Incoterms are usually discussed as a cost and risk allocation, but they also determine which date a supplier naturally quotes. Under ex-works, the supplier thinks in ship dates. Under DDP, it is likelier to think in delivery dates.
Reading a confirmation correctly therefore requires knowing the terms — which is why date interpretation cannot be separated from the commercial terms of the line.
How Evolinq handles it
Evolinq resolves date ambiguity explicitly rather than assuming, so a supplier's ship date is not silently recorded as an arrival date.
Frequently asked questions
What is a dock date?
A dock date is the date material physically arrives at the receiving facility, as distinct from the ship date when it leaves the supplier. Production planning depends on dock dates, because material in transit cannot be built with.
Why is the difference between ship date and dock date important?
Because the transit interval between them can be days or weeks. A supplier's ship date recorded as a dock date understates arrival time and builds a shortage into the plan — a common error when confirmations arrive as free text that does not distinguish the two.