Turning a $50K per week loss into a high performance system
How a major retailer’s DC underperformed for 9 months at a $50K per week loss, and how we reversed it without capex.
- $2M claim neutralised via contract validation
- Client paid only for verified deliverables
Post Go Live Recovery (10 weeks)
Outcome
76% reduction in weekly operating loss
165% uplift in system throughput
32% increase in weekly processed orderlines
The Situation
Despite being live for nine months, a multinational retailer was experiencing significant underperformance at its newly commissioned, flagship automated distribution centre. This site represented a major strategic investment, designed to anchor the retailer’s regional fulfilment network
However, mechanical and electrical instabilities, software bugs, and operational inefficiencies were compounding, leading to missed client orders, inflated costs, and a growing gap between design expectations and actual outcomes
On top of the direct inefficiencies, the system’s instability made planning extremely difficult. This unpredictability triggered a cascade of secondary cost impacts across the site, including:
- Unplanned vendor service charges and reactive invoices
- Inefficient deployment of MHE operators and safety personnel
- Increased burden on team leaders and floor supervisors
- Escalating facility overheads from extended shift requirements
- Freight and logistics disruptions, including unused trailer space and premium transport to maintain service levels
- Structuring the negotiation pathway, including the resolution strategy, decision gates, and documentation pack that enabled closure without escalation
- Ensuring the final position was defensible, documented, and executable, not opinion-based
The site was incurring over $50,000 per week in avoidable operational cost, and internal trust in the system was rapidly declining.
Our Role
Engaged in January 2025 as Automation Recovery Lead, we were tasked with stabilising the system and restoring commercial confidence.
Under the retailer’s decisive leadership and with strong alignment across both internal and vendor teams, we:
- Re established the operational baseline using live WMS and WCS data
- Applied a Pareto led approach to target top causes of downtime and instability
- Led structured daily reviews across vendor, operations, and system stakeholders
- Enforced service compliance under AS4920 while maintaining collaborative engagement
- Rebuilt trust by anchoring all recovery decisions in performance data
The Outcome
- 76% reduction in weekly operating loss
- 165% uplift in system throughput
- 32% increase in weekly processed orderlines (within the same number of operating hours)
All achieved without capex, delivered through structured clarity, consistent leadership, and coordinated execution across vendor and internal teams.
Comment
This was not a reset. It was a guided recovery. Although the retailer held every contractual and operational right to escalate or enforce penalties, their leadership chose a different path, one that reflected their deeper values. Rather than default to blame, they insisted on a collaborative approach with their vendor, prioritising long term partnership over short term enforcement. Their focus was clear: build trust, solve problems, and get the system working the way it was always intended.
We provided the expertise, structure, the stream control, and the governance to move the program forward, but the client led with trust
Why It Mattered
This wasn’t a deployment. It was a recovery. In just 10 weeks, we helped transform an unstable, high cost system into a stable, high performing operation without the need for additional capital spend. But more than that, this recovery was a reflection of the client’s identity as a business: decisive, pragmatic, and partnership first. The outcome wasn’t just operational uplift. It was proof that when leadership is grounded in values and guided by structure, recovery becomes not just possible, but inevitable