Your records
Records your team already keeps.
The useful ones connect a request or a problem to the work that followed and how it ended. Here are four common kinds in the industries we work in.
The first step asks for estimates, not exports.
Distribution and wholesale
Orders and exceptions
1. The request
A customer asks for a part that has been discontinued, or an order arrives that can't ship as written.
2. The work
Inside sales proposes a substitute or a split shipment, purchasing checks supply, and the customer approves the change by email.
3. The outcome
The order ships, and the record shows why the change was made and who agreed to it.
- Where it usually lives
- The ERP (Epicor Prophet 21, Infor and similar), the shared sales inbox, the CRM.
- What to tell us on the first call
- Which ERP you run and since when, roughly how many orders a year, and whether quotes and customer emails are kept with the order.
Logistics and freight
Shipments and billing disputes
1. The request
A customer disputes a detention or accessorial charge, or a load arrives late or damaged.
2. The work
Dispatch pulls the timestamps and paperwork, and messages go back and forth with the carrier, the driver and the customer.
3. The outcome
A credit, a rebill or a claim is settled, with the reason written down.
- Where it usually lives
- The TMS (McLeod, MercuryGate and similar), email, Teams or Slack, the accounting system.
- What to tell us on the first call
- Which TMS you use, how many years of loads it holds, and where dispatch conversations happen.
Manufacturing and field service
Service and repair histories
1. The request
A customer reports a fault on a machine or a system you installed.
2. The work
A technician diagnoses it, sometimes wrongly at first, orders parts, and comes back. Notes and photos are added along the way.
3. The outcome
The repair is completed and the root cause goes into the service history.
- Where it usually lives
- Helpdesk or field service software, maintenance systems, technician notes, email.
- What to tell us on the first call
- How many tickets or work orders a year, how far back they go, and whether technician notes are written or only coded.
Engineering and construction
Project decisions and revisions
1. The request
A contractor raises a question about a drawing, or a site condition doesn't match the plans.
2. The work
An RFI is answered, the design is revised and a change order is priced and argued over.
3. The outcome
The change is approved, built and recorded against the project.
- Where it usually lives
- Project management software (Procore and similar), drawing revisions, RFI and change order logs, email.
- What to tell us on the first call
- How many projects a year, how long you have kept project files, and whether the client's contract gives them ownership of project documents.
What usually doesn't fit
Some records can't be licensed, however good they are.
- Material held for a customer under a contract that assigns ownership to them.
- Records where personal details can't be separated from the work.
- Finished documents with no trail of how they were produced.
- A history of a year or two with little written down.
The examples on this page are illustrations. Whether a particular record qualifies is decided after review.
Questions
Do we need to export anything before we talk?
No. Start with a description. Later, the data lab's intake asks for estimates per system, such as how much data it holds, how long you have used it and how many seats it has, and an estimate from the admin console is enough. Nothing leaves your systems until you have accepted an offer.
Our records are messy. Does that matter?
Usually it helps. The back-and-forth, the corrections and the half-finished notes are what show the reasoning. Missing history and records you don't own are the real problems.
What if some of it belongs to our customers?
Then that part is out of scope. We separate the company's own operating records from material held on a customer's behalf before anything else, because only your contracts can settle it. Your counsel has the final word on what those contracts allow.
Data Advisory
Recognize your records here?
Describe the business and the systems that hold its history. A paragraph is enough, and no files are needed.
Discuss your data