What turnaround time should a property claims production SLA measure?

Measure time to an accepted, usable file, while separately showing production time and delays outside the supplier’s control. A fast first draft is not an end-to-end service result.

Use four timestamps:

1. Assignment received.
2. Inputs assessed and sufficient to begin, or missing-input request issued.
3. First complete production package delivered.
4. Carrier acceptance recorded.

Report gross elapsed time, supplier-controlled time, missing-input waiting time and carrier review waiting time. Keep queue age visible for files not yet delivered or accepted.

A supplier turnaround promise needs a precise clock definition. SeekNow, for example, advertises 24–48-hour estimate delivery, but a buyer must establish the contractual start event, service scope, evidence conditions and exceptions before comparing that promise with another route. (seeknow.com)

Recommended SLA design should include:

• Business versus calendar hours and applicable time zone.
• A deadline for identifying missing inputs.
• Explicit pause reasons and approval rules.
• Median and upper-percentile turnaround, not just an average.
• Correction-response time.
• Separate catastrophe provisions.
• No silent restart of the clock after each supplier correction.

Do not permit a delivery SLA to encourage incomplete submissions simply to stop the timer.