Quick orientation, so we start from the same page

• Tell me briefly about the product groups or distribution centers that represent most of your inventory dollar exposure
• How many SKUs do you actively plan at the SKU by DC level today? Options: Under 1,000, 1,000 to 5,000, 5,001 to 25,000, Over 25,000
• Who owns inventory targets and trade offs between working capital and service level in your organization? Options: VP Supply Chain, Head of Planning, CFO, Head of Operations, Shared committee, Other
• Walk me through the last time you approved a large inventory reduction or an across-the-board service level change, what drove that decision and what happened after

Where inventory pressure actually lands, and what breaks first

• If finance asked for a 10 percent reduction in inventory this quarter, what would break first operationally or commercially?
• Which customer segments or product families are non negotiable for higher fill rates, even if they require more investment? Options: Top customers by revenue, Strategic product families, Contracted service levels, Seasonal lines, None are non negotiable, Other
• How do stockouts on those priority SKUs show up in P&L or customer churn metrics for you?
• Name the single metric your CFO tracks most closely that inventory changes must improve or at least not worsen Options: Inventory days on hand, Working capital tied to inventory, Inventory turnover, Gross margin impact, Free cash flow, Other
• Which one answer from this section would make you stop a project immediately if it cannot be achieved? Options: Cannot maintain target fill rate for priority SKUs, No demonstrable reduction in inventory days, Pilot cannot produce traceable cost savings, Too disruptive to planning operations, Other

How you currently decide stock levels, and where assumptions hide

• Describe how your team currently sets reorder points and safety stock for a typical SKU, step by step
• Which parts of that process are automated by the ERP planning module and which parts are handled manually or via spreadsheets? Options: Fully automated in ERP, ERP with manual overrides, Planner spreadsheets drive decisions, Hybrid with separate planning tool, Other
• When planners argue for higher buffers, whose permission is typically required to reduce those buffers and why? Options: Planner alone, Planning manager, Operations manager, Sales manager, Finance approval, Cross functional committee, Other
• How much confidence do you have in lead time estimates used today, and what is the single lead time issue that causes the most pain? Options: Very high confidence, Some confidence, Low confidence, Lead time variability unknown
• If a statistical model suggested lowering inventory for 30 percent of SKUs, what internal rule or stakeholder objection would stop you from acting?

Data truths and dust bunnies, the practical barriers we need to clear

• If we requested 24 months of SKU by DC daily shipment history plus receipts and on hand, what typically prevents you from delivering that dataset intact? Options: No API or export available, Data split across systems, Missing historical records, Data ownership questions, Privacy or compliance blocks, Other
• Which system currently holds your single source of truth for inventory and transactions? Options: ERP planning module, ERP core ledger, Separate planning tool, Data warehouse, Multiple systems, no single source, Other
• Who on your team owns access to the transactional data and who would need to approve extraction for a diagnostic?
• How clean is your master data for SKUs, locations, and lead times on a 1 to 5 scale, where 1 is unreliable and 5 is production ready? Options: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
• Which single data gap would kill a meaningful pilot for you if it cannot be addressed within the first two weeks? Options: No accurate shipment history, Missing supplier lead time data, No reliable on hand per DC, No sales order level visibility, Other

Systems and integrations that actually determine feasibility

• Which systems must we integrate with to operationalize recommendations after the pilot? Options: ERP planning module, ERP transactions, WMS, Supplier portal, Data warehouse or BI, Other
• Who owns API or integration work and how many dedicated technical hours could they commit during a pilot window? Options: No dedicated hours, Less than 40 hours, 40 to 120 hours, Over 120 hours, Unknown
• Are there firewall, VPN, or security approval steps that typically add more than two weeks to a vendor data connection? Options: Yes, usually, Sometimes, Rarely, No
• Describe any regulatory, audit, or contract restrictions that limit how we can access or store transaction level data
• If there is no integration possible during the pilot, would an extract and upload cadence be acceptable to validate model results? Options: Yes, acceptable, Maybe with conditions, No, integration is required

The real risks that stop projects, candidly

• Which failed or stalled projects from the past three years are most similar to this, and why did they not reach value?
• When changes were implemented and later reversed, who pushed back and what was their main concern? Options: Operations, Planning, Sales, Finance, IT, Other
• How do you measure implementation risk, and which single operational risk would make you decide not to proceed? Options: Planner workload spike, ERP instability, Supplier inability to meet revised orders, Customer service complaints, Other
• What escalation path do you have when a pilot causes unexpected service impact during business hours? Options: Immediate stop and rollback, Rapid patch and continue, Triage during next business day, No formal path
• If a pilot misses its KPI by 20 percent, would you expect a pause, a redesign, or to proceed to implementation with adjustments? Options: Pause and investigate, Redesign pilot, Proceed with adjustments, Decision depends on root cause

Competitive landscape, what else you are weighing

• Which external vendors, incumbents, or internal programs are you actively considering as alternatives to bringing in a specialist team? Options: Current incumbent consulting firm, Homegrown analytics team, Planning software vendor services, Another consulting firm, No other options being considered, Other
• What would need to be true about your current approach for you to keep it instead of changing to an outside partner?
• Has anyone internally proposed solving this without an outside partner, and if so who would lead that effort? Options: Yes, planning team, Yes, analytics/BI, Yes, operations, No internal proposal, Other
• When you compare approaches, which outcome convinces finance faster, a one time inventory reduction or a sustainable improvement in turns and fill rate? Options: One time reduction, Sustainable improvement, Both matter equally, Undecided
• Which single competitive advantage would make you choose a provider immediately? Options: Proven pilot case study in similar industry, Clear integration plan to ERP, Guaranteed KPI improvement, Low disruption to planners, Faster time to value

What success looks like and the paperwork that must follow

• Which KPIs will your leadership use to judge a successful pilot, and what target value for each would satisfy them?
• If the pilot proves the modeled inventory reduction and maintains agreed fill rates, what stops you from converting to full implementation that week? Options: Budget approval, Procurement contracting, IT scheduling, Operational readiness, Nothing stops us
• Who must sign off on a pilot to production path from your side and how quickly can they make that decision once evidence is in front of them? Options: VP Supply Chain, CFO, Head of Planning, Cross functional committee, Other
• What acceptance criteria do you require before approving ERP parameter changes in production? Options: KPI thresholds met for 60 days, No customer escalations for 60 days, Successful dry run in test environment, Formal stakeholder sign off, Other
• Which contractual or commercial terms would need to be present to move quickly after pilot success? Options: SOW with fixed scope and deliverables, Pilot to implementation conversion clause, Data access and security addendum, Payment milestone on acceptance, Other

People, change, and the planner experience

• Describe how your planners will know a new policy is correct and what training or documentation they will need to adopt it
• How does planner capacity today limit the pace of change you can absorb? Options: No spare capacity, Limited capacity for small pilots, Can support a defined pilot, Can support broad rollout
• Which stakeholder objections are usually emotional or political rather than data driven, and who tends to express them? Options: Sales, Operations, Finance, Planning, Procurement, Other
• When past changes failed to stick, what follow up governance or review cadence was missing? Options: Monthly review with owners, Clear exception workflows, Ongoing training, Accountability for KPIs, Other
• If adoption falters after go live, what single remedial step would you expect must be available to recover quickly? Options: Rollback parameters, Additional training, Daily command center until stable, Dedicated support from vendor, Other

Immediate red flags and timeline realities

• How soon do you need to see pilot results to meet internal budget or planning cycles? Options: Within 30 days, Within 60 to 90 days, This fiscal quarter, Flexible
• Which procurement or legal steps typically add the most time to starting a vendor pilot? Options: Contract negotiation, Security review, SOW alignment, Data sharing agreement, Other
• If during initial scoping we surface a major data or integration blocker, what is your preferred escalation: pause, patch, or re-scope? Options: Pause and fix, Patch to continue, Re-scope pilot, Decision depends on blocker
• What single answer in this whole discovery would cause you to say not now to starting a pilot? Options: No data access, No technical owner available, Unwilling stakeholders, Timing constraints, Other
• Are you ready to commit to a diagnostic extraction and a 60 to 90 day pilot if the initial scope and costs are acceptable? Options: Yes, Maybe with conditions, Not at this time

• Data Extraction Plan and Access Kickoff
• Initial Extraction Review and Data Quality Assessment
• Field Mapping and Derived Variable Definitions
• Constraints, Business Rules, and Modeling Boundaries Workshop
• Final Data Validation and Modeling Go No Go

• Publish the constraint register with chosen treatments and pilot boundaries.
• Publish the field mapping and transformation rules document for ETL implementation.
• Implement transformation scripts and produce a sample transformed dataset for validation.
• Log any unresolved field gaps and the approach to approximate or backfill them before modeling.
• Identify supply and operational constraints
• A prioritized constraint register is produced with an assigned treatment for each item.
• Pilot scope and the set of constraints to include in the pilot model are confirmed.
• List of additional data elements needed to quantify constraints is documented.
• Confirm scope and success criteria
• Gather any additional data required to quantify prioritized constraints and deliver to the transformation team.
• Update the transformed dataset with constraint flags or indicators for use in the model.
• Recap remediation status and open issues
• Formal go decision to proceed to modeling or a documented no go with blocking issues and remediation plan.
• Modeling run date and pilot kickoff window are scheduled if go is approved.
• A list of any residual data fixes with deadlines is produced for tracking.
• Publish the final validated dataset and the modeling readiness sign-off or the no go remediation plan.
• If go, schedule the first model run and allocate compute and analyst time for the modeling window.
• If no go, execute the remediation plan with target completion dates and deliver a revalidation extract.
• A signed data extraction specification including tables, fields, date ranges, formats, and sample size is agreed.
• Access method, credential handoff date, and first extract delivery date are scheduled.
• Known risks to extraction are documented and an escalation path is confirmed.
• Publish the agreed data extraction specification document to the shared workspace.
• Prepare and deliver integration credentials or secure transfer access by the agreed date.
• Run the initial extraction and deliver files for the Initial Extraction Review meeting.
• Reconfirm extraction scope and sample review method
• Data quality report with prioritized anomalies and severity levels is produced and agreed.
• Remediation plan and timeline for each high severity anomaly are agreed.
• Re-extract acceptance criteria and target date are confirmed.
• Publish the formal data quality report listing anomalies, severity, and remediation actions.
• Execute remediation actions in the source system or transformation layer and schedule the re-extract.
• Deliver the second extract and an updated quality summary for the Field Mapping meeting.
• Confirm master data mappings
• A completed field mapping table linking source fields to modeling inputs is signed off.
• Definitions and formulas for all derived variables are finalized and documented.
• Any required proxy fields or acceptable approximations are documented for later validation.
• Review required datasets and field-level requirements
• Capture business and finance rules
• Walk through the final transformed dataset and key validation metrics
• Map transactional fields to demand and supply inputs
• Automated quality check summary
• Decide modeling treatment and boundary conditions
• Define derived variables and calculation rules
• Run modeling readiness sanity checks
• Review key anomalies and representative examples
• Agree access method, security, and delivery protocol
• Prioritize constraints by impact and feasibility
• Define extraction schedule and responsibilities
• Decision and next steps
• Agree transformation examples and sample output
• Agree remediation plan and acceptance criteria for re-extract
• Confirm blockers and escalation path
• Set sign-off criteria for quality acceptance

Environment and access

• Which environments will the seller need access to for implementation (list environment name such as Production, Sandbox, Test and the date each will be available)? This schedules access and cutover windows.
• Is a dedicated integration or test tenant available for pilot and deployment, or will work occur in shared environments? (this defines our rollback and validation strategy) Options: Dedicated test tenant available, Shared sandbox only, No test tenant — production-only work, Unknown — buyer/seller must coordinate

Data and configuration

• Which ERP/planning data categories will be migrated or synchronized during cutover? (select all that apply; used to size data extraction and transfer windows) Options: Replenishment parameters (RPs) and safety stock, Master item/location data, Demand history (sales/shipment records), Open POs/Work orders, Lead-time and supplier mappings, Historical inventory snapshots, Other
• Has the source of truth for master data and demand history been agreed, and who owns final sign-off? Options: Buyer owns sign-off, Seller owns sign-off, Joint sign-off, Not yet decided
• Are there open purchase orders, work orders, or pending change requests that must be frozen prior to migration? If yes, list which types must be frozen so we can plan freeze windows.

People and ownership

• Provide the primary owner (name, role, contact) for each workstream: ERP administration, data extraction, IT integration, planning operations, and finance approval. (these are our escalation and approval contacts)
• Which roles must be available for immediate decision-making during cutover? (select all that apply) Options: ERP administrator, IT/integration lead, Head of planning / planning manager, Site operations manager/Warehouse lead, Finance approver (working capital sign-off), Vendor/third-party coordinator, Other
• Is there a delegated approver who can sign off on cutover completion outside normal business hours? Options: Yes — delegated approver exists, No — senior sign-off required during business hours, Unknown — need to confirm

Timing and constraints

• List any scheduled blackout, financial close, or regulatory freeze windows in the next 90 days that prohibit configuration changes (dates and timezones). (we must avoid these when scheduling cutover)
• Select the preferred cutover timing we should target for deployment. Options: Weekend (Saturday–Sunday), End-of-day weekday, End-of-month close window (explicit date required), Nightly low-usage window, Flexible — buyer will confirm
• Which of the following constraints apply to this deployment? (select all that apply) Options: Regulatory or audit approvals required before changes, Third-party vendor coordination required, Multiple sites/locations require independent cutovers, Must maintain continuous operations (no downtime allowed), Data residency or compliance constraints, None of the above
• Is there an agreed contractual or business deadline by which the buyer expects deployment completed? If yes, provide the target date.

Environments & Endpoints

• Enter the exact Production ERP instance name we will write parameters to (enter the instance identifier as shown in your ERP admin console).
• Enter the ERP planning-module endpoint URL we will call for parameter writes and reads (format: https://your-erp-host.example/path). Default: leave blank if endpoint is the same as your ERP base URL.

Features & Modules to Deploy

• Select which deployment actions to perform during cutover (these exact actions will be applied to the ERP during the Implementation & Cutover step). Options: Write replenishment parameters (reorder points & order quantities), Write safety stock values (calculated by model), Activate replenishment policy flags (policy IDs), Write minimum order quantity values, Assign exception owners (planner role assignments), Enable planner dashboard configurations

Replenishment Targets

• Default target service level for High-priority SKUs (enter numeric percent, no % sign). Default: 95
• Default target service level for Medium-priority SKUs (enter numeric percent, no % sign). Default: 90
• Default target service level for Low-priority SKUs (enter numeric percent, no % sign). Default: 85

Safety Stock, Order Rules & Field Mappings

• Safety stock rounding policy to apply when writing values to the ERP (Default: Round up to next integer unit). Options: Round up to next integer unit, Round to nearest integer, Allow fractional units (ERP supports decimals)
• Enforce minimum order quantity (MOQ) check during parameter write? Default: Yes. Options: Yes, No
• If MOQ enforcement is Yes, enter the exact ERP field name used for minimum order quantity (enter exact field/column name; leave blank if not enforced).
• Enter the exact ERP SKU identifier field name that will serve as the primary item key for parameter writes (examples: ItemCode, PartNumber, MaterialID).

• Receive written acceptance sign-off from buyer's designated approver for deployment deliverables
• Confirm acceptance KPIs met or approved exceptions documented
• Obtain UAT/functional verification sign-off for ERP/planning configuration
• Verify rollback/backout point and test backout procedure
• Deliver operational runbooks and exception management procedures and obtain acknowledgement
• Confirm training completion and competence sign-off for planner and admin users
• Validate production data integrations and feeds end-to-end
• Handover configuration documentation and field-mapping inventory to buyer repository
• Confirm monthly review cadence and monitoring access provisioned
• Receive invoice/billing authorization per SOW billing trigger
• Close or document remediation plan for outstanding punch-list items