The client, a family-owned chemical distributor, had recently been acquired by an established private equity firm and required a major process and systems modernization effort. The business operated with fragmented processes, unclear ownership of deliverables, and a heavy reliance on customized manual spreadsheets that created inefficiencies. Critical data was decentralized from customer information, order management, accounting, and reporting.
While the organization planned to modernize operations with new systems, it lacked a clear understanding of business, data, and stakeholder readiness, as well as detailed requirements for implementation. Having previously partnered with Carpedia to improve processes in a key logistics division, the client re-engaged the team to conduct a full-scale lead-to-cash (L2C) readiness assessment.
This included mapping the end-to-end L2C process, identifying major risks and opportunities, and developing a roadmap for implementation across 7+ system integrations, including ERP, TMS, geofencing, maintenance reporting, a document repository, and a data warehouse.
Opportunities discovered during the assessment included:
- The process for managing the backlog was insufficient to complete orders in an acceptable time frame
- The flow of information between regional and central departments decreased visibility to upcoming work, created barriers to communication, and added transit days between process steps
- Service order flow between regional and centralized locations was poor and increased the cycle time
- Training was mainly based on whether it fit in the budget rather than filling a skillset gap
Key changes included:
- Development of a comprehensive L2C business process map and supporting processes
- Negotiation of vendor contracts to mitigate unnecessary costs
- Establishment of a standard communication cadence for internal teams and external vendors
- Identification of dependencies across programs and within projects (people, process, systems)
- Creation of a PMO team equipped with tools to improve project visibility and accountability
The Results
Results included:
- ~125 requirements, ~60 system integrations, ~10 major business process changes identified
- Reviewed & negotiated 15 vendor contracts/SOWs to ensure scope & timeline alignment
- 15-month integrated roadmap with cross-vendor milestones & dependencies outlined


