"We had bought software twice for a problem that turned out to be a pick list in the wrong order. Clearline spent two weeks watching us work before they suggested anything. Late deliveries went from 18% to 3% and I have my Saturdays back."
Harlow & Fen order promise
Forty staff, 300 wholesale accounts, and a promise of next-day delivery that the roastery could not keep. Twelve weeks later the promise holds itself.
What was going wrong
Harlow & Fen roast and deliver to 300 cafes. They had grown from 12 staff to 40 in three years and kept the same habit: whoever was free picked the orders. Eighteen per cent went out late, the founder spent his Saturdays packing, and two accounts had already left. Nobody could say which orders were at risk until a customer rang.
What we changed
We spent two weeks on the floor with a stopwatch and a notebook. The pick list was rebuilt around the van routes rather than the shelf order, cut-off moved from 4pm to 2pm with the sales team telling customers plainly, and the Monday plan became a half-hour meeting with one printed sheet. Two people now own the routine by name.
Where it landed
Late deliveries fell from 18% to 3% over the twelve weeks and have stayed there for three quarters. Overtime dropped by £1,900 a month, the founder has his Saturdays back, and the two lost accounts came back in the spring. Clearline has not been in the building since handover.
What clients say
"They wrote down the pricing rules we had been carrying in one person’s head, trained two others on them, and left. Quotes now go back in two days instead of nine, and we can see which ones we lose."
"Our rota was rebuilt every morning by whoever answered the phone first. It now goes out a fortnight ahead with named cover. Overtime fell from £31,000 a quarter to £9,000 and our carers stay."
"I expected a deck. What I got was three routines written on one page each, owned by people who are not me, and a number on the wall for each of them. The week is quieter and the business is not."