Emergencies are handled through messages and parallel spreadsheets, without learning from causes.
Logistics manager guide
Stabilise logistics flows before adding new tools
Map flows, ownership, waiting points, exceptions and evidence to choose the right levers.
For: Logistics, operations, supply chain and continuous improvement managersWhat to clarify before discussing a solution
Where does the flow stop being predictable and what information is missing to act?
The answer does not lie in an isolated feature: it is built by connecting rules, actors, data and evidence.An operating map of events, queues, exceptions and decisions to support first.
Four decisions to make before configuration
These decisions make the scope testable and prevent structural choices from being discovered during the project.
Define the start and end of the flow
The decision must specify the rule, its owner, the required data and the evidence used to accept it.
Identify the dominant queues
The decision must specify the rule, its owner, the required data and the evidence used to accept it.
Standardise exception reasons
The decision must specify the rule, its owner, the required data and the evidence used to accept it.
Choose one service and one control metric
The decision must specify the rule, its owner, the required data and the evidence used to accept it.
A readable end-to-end flow
Scope is not a list of modules. It is a chain of events, ownership and decisions.
1Demand intake
2Availability
3Priority
4Execution
5Evidence and closure
In the first scoping
- One representative flow and its useful variants
- Authoritative events and minimum data
- Roles, decisions and escalation times
- Acceptance criteria and baseline measurement
To sequence in waves
- Additional sites, activities or populations
- Rare variants that do not condition the pilot
- Automations whose rule is not yet stable
- Advanced dashboards after source reliability
To decide explicitly
- Define the start and end of the flow
- Identify the dominant queues
- Standardise exception reasons
- Choose one service and one control metric
From direction to measured improvement
- 1Navigator
- 2Personalised review
- 3Scoping workshop
- 4Wave-based deployment
- 5KPI measurement
Each stage produces a decision or evidence reusable in the next. Deployment remains business-led and verifiable.
Measure to decide, not to fill a dashboard
Every KPI needs a definition, a source, a cadence and an associated decision.
KPIFormulaSourceDecision
Service rateDemand served to commitment ÷ total demandDemand, commitments and actualsAlign priority, capacity and promise
Order cycle timeAvailability time − validation timeOrder, allocation, picking and shippingIdentify the link slowing the promise
Inventory accuracyItems without variance ÷ items checkedSystem inventory, counts and movementsCorrect the flows that create variances
Decision lead timeDecision date − signal dateAlerts, decisions and actionsShorten the path from signal to action
06 · Business scenario
A pilot flow visible without parallel spreadsheets
- Situation
- Teams know how to resolve incidents, but the same causes recur.
- Approach
- The pilot describes one flow, its waiting points, exceptions and decisions, then progressively removes parallel tracking.
- Target outcome
- Incidents become comparable and improvements can be prioritised.
Useful answers before the first discussion
01Where should we start in practical terms?
Choose a representative scope spanning “Demand intake” and “Availability”, then document one normal case and one frequent exception. The first flow should be important enough to matter but contained enough to observe end to end.
02Do all existing systems need replacing?
No. Scoping starts with decisions, authoritative events and ownership. It then determines what should be retained, integrated, replaced or simply better governed, wave by wave.
03What data should be prepared before a workshop?
Prepare a few real cases, the volumes shaping the operation, the main variance reasons and the sources used to measure Service rate. The quality of examples matters more than the quantity of documents.
04How should the right pilot scope be chosen?
Choose a scope with an available owner, accessible data, a meaningful exception and a measurable outcome. Avoid both an overly simple case that proves nothing and an overly broad scope that dilutes learning.
05How can scope changes during the project be limited?
Make assumptions, interfaces, variants, exceptions and acceptance criteria explicit. Every new request can then be classified: essential to the wave, suitable for a later wave, or outside the objective. Discussion focuses on impact rather than intuition.
Next step
Turn this guide into a personalised review
Complete Navigator to position your context, then use the review as the starting point for a scoping workshop.
- 1Navigator
- 2Personalised review
- 3Scoping workshop
- 4Wave-based deployment
- 5KPI measurement
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