DJC Insights
How Small Process Changes Created Large Outcomes
Industry: E-Commerce Fulfillment Change: Adding a required checkbox.
The Bottleneck
The warehouse was missing shipping deadlines. Why? Because 10% of orders had incomplete addresses (missing unit numbers). The standard process:
- Packer sees "Missing Unit".
- Packer puts box in "Problem Pile".
- Support Team emails customer.
- Wait 2 days.
- Customer replies.
- Support tells Packer.
- Packer finds box in pile.
This "Loop of Doom" slowed down the entire floor.
The Small Process Change
We didn't install robots. We changed the Checkout Form.
We added an API validation on the address field. If "Unit Number" was likely missing (based on building type), we popped up a modal: "It looks like this is an apartment. Please confirm unit number."
The Impact
- "Problem Pile" reduced by 90%.
- Warehouse throughput increased 20% (because flow wasn't interrupted).
- Support tickets dropped 15%.
Conclusion
We often look for complex downstream solutions (better warehouse management software) when the answer is a simple upstream constraint (fix the input form). A small constraint at the start of a system prevents massive chaos at the end of the system.