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Playbook · Operations × Distribution & Logistics

Operational Excellence in Distribution & Logistics

Operational drag in distribution & logistics rarely announces itself — it hides in handoffs, workarounds, and numbers nobody fully trusts. This playbook lays out how a Transformation Sherpa finds it, prices it, and works it out of the system.

The Terrain

Inventory inaccuracy, route inefficiency, and customer SLAs missed at the last mile.

Distribution margins are thin enough that operational slop is existential. Inventory accuracy in the low nineties means every day starts with expediting and apologizing. Routes planned by habit leave hours on the road. And the SLAs that win enterprise customers get missed at the last mile, where visibility is weakest. The network knows the truth; the systems are days behind it.

The Moves

  • Fix inventory accuracy first — cycle counting discipline plus scan compliance beats any dashboard.
  • Instrument the last mile so SLA risk is visible at dispatch time, not at the customer complaint.
  • Attack dock-to-stock and pick-path metrics warehouse by warehouse; publish the league table.
  • Make expedite costs visible per order and per customer — pricing conversations change fast.

Symptoms

What we hear from distribution & logistics leadership teams

  1. Peak season planning starts with the question of which customers to disappoint.
  2. Inventory accuracy is quoted with a knowing laugh rather than a number.
  3. A major trading partner just mandated an EDI or API standard you can't meet.
  4. Route plans are printed in the morning and obsolete by ten.

See the full Distribution & Logistics sector profile, engagement arc, and FAQ →

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Talk to a Distribution & Logistics Sherpa about operational excellence

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