CHAPTER 02 · DISCOVER
We Learn Your Operation Before We Propose Anything
One day, on-site. The VP of Operations framed the stakes up front — margin erosion nobody could trace to a cause. Then we did what we always do: talk to people, watch the work, map it, and rank what we found.
WHAT WE ACTUALLY DID
We Don't Just Run a Meeting
A roadmap session is where it starts, not where discovery ends. Interviews, documentation, the tools already in use — all of it, before we propose anything.
Interviews
34 sessions / 26 stakeholders
We start with the executive sponsor, then work down through every department that touches inventory — not just the people who signed off on the meeting.
Every session recorded, transcribed, and tagged.
Documentation
58 sources reviewed
Reorder logic, supplier terms, and the shadow spreadsheets people built because the ERP couldn't keep up.
Indexed so the agents can reference it directly.
Systems & Tools
7 systems mapped
Everything the network already touches — no new platform to learn, no rip-and-replace.
All seven connected before we proposed anything.
Warehouse walkthroughs
We watched pick, pack, and receiving happen across all three DCs — not just heard about it secondhand.
Process mapping & improvement
Every reorder and receiving workflow got mapped end-to-end, then we asked what should change before any of it gets automated.
Adjacent conversations
We talked to sales and customer service, not just the buyers — the people who hear about a stockout first.
AUTOMATION MAP
Of 168,000 hours a year spent on manual work, here's how much we can take off the buyers' plate
Stays human — supplier relationships, exception judgment calls, final approval on large purchase orders.
Of the 114,240 hrs, here's what each workflow contributes
P1
P2
P3
P4
TOTAL
P1
Demand Forecasting & Reorder
48K hrs/yr · $3.4M
P2
Supplier Risk Monitoring
28K hrs/yr · $2.0M
P3
Slow-Mover & Working-Capital Review
24K hrs/yr · $1.8M
P4
Rebate & Freight Reconciliation
14K hrs/yr · $1.1M
What we picked to build first
Demand-driven reorder recommendation
Highest-leverage, lowest-risk: the data already existed in the ERP, the pain was universal across all three DCs, and a visible win in 30 days would change every later conversation more than a bigger, slower project would.
Committed on the wall. Working session scheduled within 10 days.
12 weeks to the first system live · then ongoing
Discover
Working session, on-site
Demand-driven reorder
Wave 1
Supplier risk monitoring
Wave 1
Warehouse slotting & pick-path
Wave 2
THE METHOD
Same Approach, Every Engagement
Most AI roadmaps fail the same way — a list of interesting projects with no way to choose which one matters. Ours turns what we actually find on the floor into a ranked, ownable plan.
Discover
What do you repeat? What frustrates you? What runs on a schedule?
→ A named list of the real, repeated work — across every department.
Map & Improve
How does this actually happen, workarounds included — and what should change before we automate it?
→ An end-to-end picture of each workflow, cleaned up first.
Rank & Commit
What ships first? Who owns it? How do we know it worked?
→ A ranked plan with a named owner and a metric on every line.
UP NEXT · BUILD