The Most Expensive Problems Are The Ones You Find Late.

  1. Detection to Response. The problem is not that exceptions happen. The problem is the gap between when they’re detectable and when someone acts.
  2. Early detection is 37× less expensive than late detection. $3,500 vs $130,000. Same problem. Same parts. Same destination. The only variable is when you see it.
  3. We take accountability for the results. Not for installing software, not for delivering a deck, not for staffing a team. For whether early detection actually results in 37× exception cost reduction.
Manufacturing · Distribution · Logistics · Construction · Enterprise Tech
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Christopher Kowal
Christopher Kowal
Founder and CEO, edgeRunner
32 years of business leadership and transformation, resulting in consistently improved performance.
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Who We Serve

Strategic Investors

Value Creation Owners

Integrating automation across operating models, maximizing EBITDA per FTE.

Executives

P&L Accountability

Expanding sight and capacity to exceed customer success and P&L objectives.

Founders

Middle Market

Turning major strategic priorities into company and ecosystem-wide execution.

Everyone Sells You Software, Strategy, Or Staff.
Nobody Is Accountable For The Result.

We are. Accountable to materially lower exception costs.
Our commitment is not a deliverable. It is the measurable outcome.

We asked a customer how they measure ROI qualitatively and quantitatively, here is what was said...

It would be detection and response.

Qualitatively to understand and see situations earlier to then be able to take action before items become critical. Also, be able to root cause those situations and then take actions to prevent future occurrences.

Quantitively can give a prime example:

Knowing a part will be short 3 weeks from now in APAC region and ability to use estimated contract rates to move 4 pallets of product with 200 cases total on those pallets via standard air carrier approximately $3000-$3500 depending on chargeable weight and delivers in approximately 5-7 days door-to-door.

Finding out 1 week or less prior results in next flight out and potential hand carry options. Hand carry estimates of a real time situation like this ($130000).

Preventing one of these urgent situations ROI’s the entire year’s costs.

Director of Supply Chain and Logistics; Tier 1 Supplier

Case Studies

Manufacturing · Logistics
Purchase Order to Customer

Exceptions and an end-to-end operations view, from order to fulfillment.

For: Director of Supply Chain · Director of Logistics · Logistics Analyst · Buyer

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1. Situation

ERP and MRP reports time each delivery on the supplier's initial EDI data. A delay or improvement after that does not adjust the timing until the PO is received.

2. What changed

One view from the purchase order to the customer order it supplies.

  • Inbound supply. What is changing before supply arrives, across every PO from confirmation through shipment and receipt.
  • Supply to customer. Which customer order a late component reaches, and when.
  • Outbound detail. True margin, cash risk, customer risk and transit trouble in one view.

3. Results

130 exceptions arrive later than the ERP date shows. 22 of 114 shipments in transit have slipped.

Measured in the pilot: exception to owner time · exception to recovery plan time.

Manufacturing
Shortage Story

From a late component to the customer order it impacts.

For: Director of Supply Chain · Director of Logistics · Logistics Analyst · Buyer

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1. Situation

Safety stock offsets from the top, so the true shortage point and its impact on production plans stay hidden. The gap is tracked manually, outside the system.

2. What changed

SAP shows when supply is planned to arrive. The operating layer shows when it will actually arrive, and refreshes as actions are taken.

A late PO is traced through the planned order and the finished good to the customer order it reaches. A recovery request to the supplier is drafted and staged for the buyer to review.

The buyer reviews and sends. Operations decides: expedite, reallocate or tell the customer.

3. Results

14 components reach 62 open customer orders. One PO now arrives 22 days later than the ERP date.

Measured in the pilot: days of earlier visibility than ERP · exception to owner time.

Logistics · Distribution
Operating Picture

Outbound detail: true margin, cash risk, customer risk and transit trouble.

For: Director of Supply Chain · Director of Logistics · Logistics Analyst

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1. Situation

On the outbound side, SAP carries the standard cost and the promised date. Margin, cash, customer and transit signals are not seen in one place.

2. What changed

Four views, computed from disparate datasets, joined into one picture.

A status request to the carrier and an account follow-up are drafted and staged for review. Logistics reviews and sends. The account owner decides the customer conversation.

3. Results

6 customers deteriorating. One shipment sat 80 hours without movement before it was flagged.

Measured in the pilot: customer notification lag (20.8 hours on this data) · exception to owner time.

Let’s explore a pilot together.

Reach out to discuss scope, timeline and next steps.

Explore a Pilot
Stardock
400% five-year portfolio growth

Situation. Partnership strategy, product development, distribution and commercial execution were not connected.

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What changed

Architected an operating model consisting of the full production and partnerships lifecycle, from planning and staffing through milestone logistics, ship, and margin production, architecting a system that surfaced and closed issues inside the lifecycle, not after it.

Results

+15pt EBIT improvement. 400% five-year portfolio growth. New markets and revenue channels through strategic partnerships, product commercialization and digital distribution.

Compuware / Dynatrace
50% reduction in cycle time

Situation. Enterprise technology engagements were run as product demonstrations. The customer’s business problem was established late in the sale.

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What changed

A diagnostic engagement model that established the business problem first: the dependencies, performance constraints and outcomes executives needed, before the engagement was defined.

Results

Sales cycle time cut by 50%. Account expansion. A global executive reference base.

Technology Partnerships
$350M+ downstream market impact

Situation. New chip hardware and GPU launches depended on coordinating hardware production, software and product integration across partners. Product issues found late put launches at risk.

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What changed

Each partnership was tracked against product milestones, commercial terms and launch requirements, so product issues surfaced while there was still time to resolve them before launch.

Results

$200M+ program value. $350M+ downstream market impact. Multiple product launches and new computing capabilities. These figures describe the portfolio’s impact, not advisory fees earned.

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