Engagement Model
Wie wir uns engagieren
A product ladder calibrated to the structural decision the client faces. Three measurement instruments. Each producing a clear structural decision basis – not recommendations for further study.
Every Supply Chain Navigators engagement is principal-led. Simon Dahlem is present at board and C-level throughout. Specialist delivery teams operate under direct principal oversight. The advisory and the delivery are never decoupled.
All engagements are confidential and executive-sponsored. We do not resell systems, represent vendors or accept referral arrangements with technology providers.
Five rungs. Calibrated to the decision the client faces.
Engagements are organised as a product ladder. Each rung is a complete piece of work in its own right – clients enter at the rung that matches their structural question, not at a fixed entry point.
Sprosse 0
3 to 6 weeks
KOMPASS IPI
What it answers:
Is the Management Burden of the deployed infrastructure matched by the governance maturity available to absorb it?
Standalone Infrastructure Performance Index assessment – the Operational Complexity Score. Suitable for pre-investment evaluation, capital reinvestment decisions, or environments where infrastructure-governance fit is the specific question. Produces the COMPASS IPI™ report with its three metrics – Management Burden (MB), Structural Risk Index (SRI) and Governance Maturity Index (GMI).
Rang 1
10 days
KOMPASS Basislinie
What it answers:
What is the structural starting point of this environment, expressed as a board-ready alignment score?
Ten-day diagnostic across all three vertices. Establishes a baseline COMPASS Index™. Suitable for initial structural assessment where speed and decision-readiness matter – particularly post-acquisition, pre-transformation, or at leadership transition.
Sprosse 2
60 days
COMPASS Sprint
What it answers:
What is the full structural picture, with detailed drift register and root cause analysis?
Full instrument deployment across COMPASS IPI™, COMPASS GMI™ and COMPASS ROI™. Detailed drift register ranked by financial exposure. Root cause analysis across all three vertices. Executive decision brief, board-ready.
Stufe 3
3 to 9 months, scope-defined
COMPASS Neuausrichtung
What it answers:
What does it take to realign this environment structurally, and what is the EBITDA recovery trajectory?
Where structural drift is confirmed, SCN leads the realignment programme. Hands-on delivery under principal oversight – not a consultancy report handed to an internal team. All three vertices addressed in structured sequence with defined milestones. COMPASS ROI runs throughout as the lifecycle benefit tracking instrument.
Rung 4 & 5
Retained, typically annual
Deal-Lebenszyklus & Honorar
What it answers:
How is structural integrity maintained across the full investment lifecycle or the PE hold period?
Retained advisory at board and C-level across the investment hold period or the PE deal lifecycle. Periodic COMPASS Index reviews. COMPASS ROI updated with annual actual figures. Ongoing structural governance support where the organisation does not yet have that discipline in place. Pre-exit preparation where applicable.
Three instruments measuring three vertices
Each engagement deploys one or more of the three measurement instruments. The instruments compose into the COMPASS Index but can also be deployed independently when a specific structural question dominates.
KOMPASS IPI
Systemscheitelpunkt
Measures
Output
Three metrics – Management Burden (MB), Structural Risk Index (SRI), Governance Maturity Index (GMI) – plus one of seven analytical patterns, IPI report and executive brief
Standalone duration
3 to 6 weeks
COMPASS GMI
Governance-Scheitelpunkt
Measures
Governance capability across twelve dimensions, five-level maturity scale
Output
Governance Maturity Index, dimension gap register and governance development plan
Standalone duration
2 to 4 weeks
COMPASS ROI
Governance-Scheitelpunkt
Measures
Investment case assumptions against actual benefit delivery, across the full asset lifecycle
Output
Benefit Realisation Register, Investment Curve Analysis and Capital Vertex Score
Standalone duration
4 to 8 weeks
How we work
Principal-led throughout
Simon Dahlem leads every engagement at board and C-level from day one. We do not send a team and report back. The principal is present.
Technologieunabhängig
We do not resell systems, represent vendors or hold referral arrangements with technology providers. Our assessment of any WMS, automation or ERP environment is structurally independent. This is a precondition of credible structural governance assessment – not a marketing claim.
Confidential by default
All engagements are conducted under strict confidentiality. We do not reference client engagements without explicit permission. The case studies on this site are published with client agreement.
Time-bound and structured
Engagements are scoped, time-bound and produce defined outputs. We do not engage in open-ended advisory relationships without a clear structural mandate and defined deliverables.
Decision-ready outputs
Every engagement produces a clear structural decision basis – not a report that requires a further engagement to interpret. The COMPASS Index, the drift register and the executive brief are designed to be presented at board level without translation.
No conflict of interest
We do not accept work from technology vendors, system integrators or implementation firms. Our only commercial relationship is with the executive team or ownership structure that commissions the engagement..
Methodologie-versioniert
Every assessment carries the methodology version stamp. Outputs remain comparable across engagements as calibration refines through field experience. The instruments improve with use; outputs remain defensible at peer review.
Arbeiten Sie mit Supply Chain Navigators zusammen
Wenn Sie für eine kapitalintensive Distributionsumgebung verantwortlich sind, in der die Beziehung zwischen der ursprünglichen Investitionslogik und der aktuellen operativen Realität eine Überlegung wert ist – genau dort arbeiten wir.