They had hired them in September, a reputable firm, serious people, with a clear methodology and a deliverable expected by the first quarter, because margins had been eroding for eighteen months and something, somewhere in the supply chain, was no longer working the way it used to.
The report had been presented that morning, sixty-two slides, solid data, numbered recommendations, and a conviction in the senior partner’s voice that gave the impression everything had just been discovered.
Three of the main recommendations — reduction of dead SKUs, revision of replenishment thresholds, consolidation of secondary suppliers — had been formulated word for word in an internal memo written ten months earlier by the operations director.
No one around the table mentioned the memo.
The operations director didn’t either.
The owner nodded several times during the presentation, saying this was exactly what they needed, that it finally gave them a solid foundation to move forward, that things were clear now.
At one point, he looked at the operations director and said: you see, this is what we needed.
The operations director smiled, the next steps were entrusted to the firm.
The next meeting started on time.
