Check the work behind the promised date.
Choose an order due soon enough that its remaining operations are known. Put the promised date beside the work still required, rather than beside the date the order first entered the system.
Trace the route that is still open.
List the unfinished operations in their actual sequence. Include outside processing, inspection and packing when they affect release. Establish which steps can overlap and which must wait for another operation to finish.
Then check the material. An expected receipt is different from stock that has arrived, passed any required check and been allocated to the job. Where a supplier date is still unconfirmed, keep that uncertainty visible.
Check the time that is genuinely available.
Compare the remaining hours with the jobs already committed to the same people and equipment. Include setups and the time lost when work changes between products. Check whether the relevant skill is available on the shift being assumed.
If the date depends on overtime or a job moving out of the way, name that condition. An assumption becomes easier to examine when the affected orders are visible.
Use the check at the release meeting.
The discussion should settle which commitment the team is making and which exception still needs a decision. Production and customer service should leave with the same date and the same reason for any change.
A short load check on a few orders can expose a recurring planning issue. It does not establish the capacity of the entire factory. Expand the review if the same constraint appears across a larger part of the order book.