Short Answer: The same procedures that help us maintain a 99% fill rate keep us from knowing about backorders until late in the order fulfillment cycle. Most backorders occur when a defective part occurs late in the production process.
Expanded Answer: For example, if we have a finish problem on a door around mid-day on Friday and we don’t have time to repair or run a new component. All defective parts must be re-worked or re-produced by the end of the day on Friday, therefore, the teams do not know if the item will be backordered until the end of the day on Friday. At this point, they note the backorder on the paperwork. On Monday morning (the first day of the week you are to receive this order), our Order Entry team is notified (by printing a report) that your item has been backordered. The team then faxes you a Backorder Notification that same morning.