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How we work, and what a StratoFlow engagement looks like

We are a young firm and we would rather show you our method than a wall of logos. Below is how we run an engagement, and the shape of the problems we take on.

Representative engagements

The kind of problem we are built for

These are composite examples that describe the type of work and how we would approach it — not named client projects. Ask us on a call and we will talk you through specifics and put you in touch with references.

Retail · multi-site

The peak that broke the process

The brief. A distributor whose autumn peak needed 40% more agency labour every year to hit the same service level. The operation was not slow — the work was arriving in the wrong order.

Our approach. We baseline productivity by task, re-cut the wave plan and slotting, then build a despatch board that sequences work against carrier collection times instead of order entry time.

6–10 weeksTypical duration
Consultant + 1 engineerTeam shape

3PL · freight

Billing that could not be defended

The brief. A logistics provider invoicing from spreadsheets, losing money on complex clients and unable to answer customer queries without a two-day investigation.

Our approach. We model the real cost to serve per client, rebuild the tariff structure, and replace the spreadsheets with a rating engine that prices every consignment from the contract terms automatically.

3–5 monthsTypical duration
Consultant + 2 engineersTeam shape

Manufacturing · multi-system

Three systems, no single truth

The brief. An ERP, a warehouse system and a transport provider portal that each held part of the answer, and a planning team reconciling them by hand every morning.

Our approach. We map the flows, fix the master-data mismatches at source, integrate the three systems properly, and put one operational dashboard on top that the morning meeting runs from.

4–6 monthsTypical duration
Consultant + 2 engineersTeam shape

How the work overlaps

Two tracks, not two suppliers

Process work and software work run together. Engineering starts while the diagnosis is still being written, which is why what gets built reflects the operation rather than a description of it.

How a StratoFlow engagement is sequenced Two parallel tracks over twelve weeks. The consultancy track runs Diagnose in weeks nought to three, Design in weeks three to six, and Embed and measure from week six. The engineering track begins Prototype in week three, while Design is still in progress, then Build in short cycles from week six and Hand over from week ten. The two tracks exchange findings at week three and week six. CONSULTANCY ENGINEERING findings inform the build the build reshapes the plan Diagnose Design Embed & measure Prototype Build in cycles Hand over WEEK 0 3 6 9 12
Indicative shape of a joined-up engagement. A consultancy-only or build-only piece of work uses one track.

Principles

Six things we hold to

01

Go and look

No recommendation is made from a data extract alone. We stand where the work happens, at the time it is hardest.

02

Quantify or drop it

If we cannot put a number on an idea using your data, it stays out of the report. Opinions are cheap and you have plenty already.

03

Small, reversible steps

Change the operation in pieces that can be measured and undone. Big-bang transformation is how good ideas get discredited.

04

Say the hard thing

If the problem is the org chart, the supplier or a decision already made, we will say so privately and early. You are not paying us to be comfortable.

05

Leave it maintainable

Documented, standard, handed over. Success is your team running it well without us.

06

Scope before spend

Written scope, agreed price, no surprise invoices. If the work changes, you hear about it before it happens.

Handover

What you have when we leave

The end of an engagement should be unremarkable. Everything below is handed over as a matter of course, not negotiated at the last minute.

  1. The diagnostic and its modelIncluding the workings, so someone else can re-run it next year.
  2. Source code in your repositoriesWith the full commit history, not a zip file dropped on the last day.
  3. Infrastructure and credentialsDefined as code where practical, in your own cloud accounts, with the access transferred.
  4. Runbooks and a handover sessionWritten for the people who will actually operate it, and walked through with them.
  5. A named contact afterwardsSomeone who worked on it, who will answer a question six months later without an invoice attached.
A lattice of connections with a flowing line passing through it

Timeline

A typical first eight weeks

WEEK 0

Intro call and scoping

Thirty minutes to understand the situation, then a written scope with a fixed price for the diagnostic. Free, and there is no obligation to proceed.

WEEKS 1–2

Immersion

Site visits, interviews across shifts, systems walkthrough and a data extract. We build the baseline model of how the operation behaves today.

WEEK 3

Findings

A working session with your team on what we found and what it costs, followed by a written report with options ranked by effort against return.

WEEKS 4–8

First delivery

If you proceed, the first process changes land and the first working software is in front of users. Early, small and real — so you can judge us on delivery rather than on a proposal.

Concentric rings radiating outward from a single hub

One team

The people who mapped your process write the acceptance criteria and review the code.

Want the specifics?

Composites only go so far. On a call we can talk through real engagements in detail and arrange a reference conversation.

Book an intro call About StratoFlow