The Counterattack
Chapter 03

The Counterattack

What we fix, how long it takes, and what the company stops tolerating. 8 automation initiatives across 4 departments. €720K-1.05M projected annual value.

The 30-Second Summary

  • 8 automation initiatives across 4 departments
  • €720K to €1.05M in recoverable annual value
  • Expected first production results in month 1
  • Target: remove the CEO from low-value routing, rubber-stamp approvals, and recurring exception handling

Everything below is the detail. Start here if you have 30 seconds. Read the rest when you are ready.

Automation Opportunity Map

The goal is not to add AI on top of chaos. The goal is to turn repeated fires into infrastructure: context assembled automatically, decisions routed to the right level, exceptions escalated only when human judgment is actually needed. The figures below show direct value by initiative. Broader operational value is modeled separately.

Low complexity
Med complexity
High complexity
Direct initiative value: €640-890K/yr
Finance2 items
€200-260K
Close Automation: SAP-Excel reconciliation
€140-180KMed
Current state
David manually reconciles 400+ entries across SAP and Excel every month using a macro he built 6 years ago. No one else can run it.
Target state
Automated SAP-to-Excel matching with rules-based exception flagging. Human review only for genuine anomalies.
€140-180K/yrWeeks 3-8Med
Approval Routing: Rules-based PO routing
€60-80KLow
Current state
POs over €5K require CEO approval via email. Carlos signs ~40/week with 2.3-day average delay. Most are rubber-stamped.
Target state
Rules-based routing in SAP. POs under €10K auto-approved by department heads. CEO reviews only strategic purchases.
€60-80K/yrWeeks 2-4Low
Operations3 items
€200-280K
Order Notifications: Trigger-based status updates
€90-120KLow
Current state
Sophie sends 30+ manual status update emails per day to 3 departments. No automated notifications from SAP.
Target state
Event-driven notifications triggered by SAP order milestones. Customers and internal teams updated automatically.
€90-120K/yrWeeks 2-5Low
Ops Report Auto-generation: Monday report from live data
€50-70KLow
Current state
Monday report requires 4-5 hours pulling from HubSpot, SAP, WMS CSV, and tickets. Excel template breaks regularly.
Target state
Automated weekly report from live data. Pre-built template populates automatically. Ready Monday 7am.
€50-70K/yrWeeks 7-9LowDepends on: WMS-SAP Sync
Knowledge Capture: Document tribal knowledge
€60-90KMed
Current state
14+ years of institutional knowledge lives in Laura's, David's, and Marc's heads. Nothing documented. Nothing searchable.
Target state
Structured capture of undocumented processes. Searchable knowledge base with version control. Eliminates single-point-of-failure risk.
€60-90K/yrWeeks 5-10Med
Logistics2 items
€160-230K
WMS-SAP Sync: Connect warehouse to SAP
€80-120KHigh
Current state
No integration between Infor WMS and SAP. Marc exports CSV daily using an undocumented script on his laptop.
Target state
Real-time bidirectional sync. Inventory levels, goods receipts, and shipment confirmations flow automatically.
€80-120K/yrWeeks 3-10High
Inventory Reconciliation: Automated 3-way match
€80-110KMed
Current state
Takes 6-8 hours daily. Requires Marc and a warehouse supervisor simultaneously. SAP and WMS adjusted separately.
Target state
Automated nightly reconciliation. Discrepancies flagged with root cause analysis. Physical counts only for unresolvable exceptions.
€80-110K/yrWeeks 8-12MedDepends on: WMS-SAP Sync
Customer Success1 item
€80-120K
Escalation Intelligence: Rules-based routing
€80-120KLow
Current state
Céline triages 25-30 escalations/week from memory. Each takes ~45 min of manual context gathering across 3 systems.
Target state
Rules-based routing by issue type, customer tier, and product line. Each escalation arrives with full context pre-assembled.
€80-120K/yrWeeks 7-10Low

Implementation Timeline

Month 1
Month 2
Month 3
Month 4
Approval Routing
Order Notifications
Close Automation
WMS-SAP Sync
Knowledge Capture
Escalation Intelligence
Ops Report Auto-gen
Inventory Reconciliation
Full Cross-system Integration

Month 1: High-priority quick wins deployed first. Approval routing and order notifications go live within weeks. Close automation begins. Human reviews every output during this phase.

Month 2: WMS-SAP sync and knowledge capture workstreams in progress. Escalation intelligence and ops report automation begin. First measurable time savings reported.

Month 3: First full operational cycle with automation handling order notifications, close tracking, and reporting. Inventory reconciliation deployed. Target: 50h/week recovered.

Month 4: Full cross-system integration. All 8 initiatives in production. Target: 74h/week recovered. Team fully trained. Handoff complete.

Projected Annual Value

Coordinator time recovered (12 people × 37% time saved)€280-340K
Procurement efficiency (fewer follow-ups, better pricing)€120-180K
Faster project profitability = better decisions€200-350K
Reduced onboarding cost + knowledge retention€80-120K
Quality/compliance time savings€40-60K
€720K-1.05M
projected annual value

Labor redeployment means shifting hours from manual coordination to higher-value work. Not headcount reduction. Coordinators move from data gathering to actual coordination. The COO stops firefighting and starts doing operational strategy.

Phase 1
War Map
Completed
Phase 2-3
Implementation
10-16 weeks
Phase 3+
Ongoing
Usage-based

ROI Calculator

Model the cost of manual work in your organization. Adjust the inputs below to see how much operational capacity you could recover.

Illustrative model using your inputs and the recovery assumptions shown below. Not client outcome data.

180
501,500
€52K
€30K€90K
31%
10%60%
2,232h
Hours lost per week
€2.9M
Annual friction cost
€1.2M
Conservative recovery (40%)
€1.9M
Optimistic recovery (65%)

180 employees × €52K avg salary × 31% manual = €2.9M friction cost → 40-65% recoverable

These are estimates. Actual results depend on company specifics. We show our math and encourage you to stress-test with your own assumptions.

How We Work

1
War Map Review
We walk through this deliverable together. You challenge the numbers, confirm the priorities, and tell us what we missed. This is your map. We built it, but you own it.
2
Remediation
Before we build anything, we fix what needs fixing. Data quality, missing SOPs, system access. Your team gets briefed on the plan. No surprises.
3
Build + Deploy
We embed with your operations team. Systems go live one at a time, in priority order. Every output reviewed by a human until accuracy crosses the threshold. First results in production by Month 1.
4
Transfer
We train your team. We document everything. We make sure the people who run your operations can run these systems without us. The capability is yours permanently.
5
Exit
When your team owns it, we leave. No lock-in. No dependency. Optional quarterly review if you want it. Everything keeps running after we go.

War Map

A real engagement is scoped in the Strategy Session and may begin with a War Map or a bounded Feasibility Sprint.

Request a Strategy Session

Direct accountability. Scope agreed before work begins.