








It's a supply chain whodunnit: orders disappear, performance plummets, and billing is chaos. But who's at fault?
Examine the suspects, evidence, and crime scenes to solve the Supply Chain Nightmare and determine: Whodunnit?
Start the Investigation Skip to the VerdictA thriving retail operation riding high on Shopify demand and ambitious growth targets. Their momentum clashes with the disastrous complacency of their long-time 3PL partner, whose legacy systems and "good-enough" attitude are now a competitive liability.
Millions in revenue vanished during the most critical 8 weeks of the year. Black Friday orders flooded into the system at 3x normal volume, but many never reached customers. Inventory disappeared. Order fulfillment rates plummeted from 94% to 67%.
What should have been a record-breaking Q4 became a perfect storm because the operation couldn't deliver. Late shipments, wrong items, missing packages. For 3PLs, key contracts dropped. The retailer demands real-time visibility and tech sophistication. The 3PL can only offer apologies and excuses.
28.72%
Everyone involved swears they did their jobs. The data shows green lights across all systems. Yet somehow, the entire bottom line collapsed like a house of cards.
Who's to blame? Watch each suspect's introduction. Examine their interrogation videos. Size up the rooms and weapons. Uncover which combination of failures delivered the fatal blow to this operation.
"My APIs are not the problem; I manually trigger and verify everything! The sheer volume is what's actually killing us, not my code!"
Workstation
Custom APIs
CASE-001-824FDG
FILE #00103011
NAME
Rohan Singh
TITLE
Systems Architect
DEPARTMENT
Information Technology
LAST SEEN IN
Server Room
NOTES
Relies on manual syncing for system integration, leading to data silos and slow updates.
Uses a suite of devices to manually trigger data transfers, operating on the false pretense of 'system redundancy' while actually ensuring no system is fully autonomous.
"I just use the standard box size at my station. I don't have time to try and find the perfect box sizes for every order! My job is to get packages out the door!"
Space Waste
Packing Tape
CASE-001-824FDG
FILE #00103012
NAME
Jasmine Cooper
TITLE
Fulfillment Associate
DEPARTMENT
Outbound Fulfillment
LAST SEEN IN
Packing Station
NOTES
Using incorrect shipping box sizes, leading to increased shipping costs due to dimensional weight pricing and excess dunnage.
The oversized boxes are the ultimate weapon of waste, needlessly adding volume and weight to every shipment, directly increasing freight costs.
"What inaccuracy? We've been doing it this way for years! It only takes us a couple of hours a week, and we know for a fact where every product is!"
Paper Processes
Motion Waste
CASE-001-824FDG
FILE #00103013
NAME
Michael Varga
TITLE
Warehouse Manager
DEPARTMENT
Inventory Management
LAST SEEN IN
Storage Area
NOTES
Manual and time-consuming cycle counting process, leading to inaccurate inventory records, operational delays, and a high cost per count.
The rusty clipboard represents the antiquated method of manual cycle counting—a slow, error-ridden tool that acts as a bottleneck to accurate, real-time inventory management.
"It's not my fault! I'm constantly searching through our systems for basic info—the company needs a customer portal or something to handle the volume."
Support Backlog
Complaints
CASE-001-824FDG
FILE #00103014
NAME
Amy O'Connell
TITLE
Service Agent
DEPARTMENT
Customer Service
LAST SEEN IN
Support Center
NOTES
Lack of a customer-facing system for order tracking and fulfillment visibility, which increases customer support volume and reduces customer satisfaction.
The fraying headset is the symbol of customer complaint triage — an expensive, personal, and non-scalable method of handling fulfillment questions that could be solved by a simple automated portal.
"I pull all metrics from our core systems, drop them into my spreadsheet, and check every cell, every formula, and every calculation one-by-one."
Manual Checks
File Errors
CASE-001-824FDG
FILE #00103015
NAME
Kevin Chen
TITLE
Financial Analyst
DEPARTMENT
Finance
LAST SEEN IN
Admin Office
NOTES
Using an error-prone, non-scalable tool (Excel) for critical financial models, limiting collaboration and real-time insights.
The outdated spreadsheet is a digital 'ghost in the machine,' a rigid model requiring daily manual updates that are prone to formula errors and 'fat-fingering.'
"If the forecast worked last year, it should work again this year. My job is to ensure inventory is available, and this is the easiest way."
Planning Office
2024 Forecast
CASE-001-824FDG
FILE #00103016
NAME
Sofia Rodriguez
TITLE
Demand Planner
DEPARTMENT
Supply Chain Planning
LAST SEEN IN
Planning Office
NOTES
Disconnect between demand forecasting and financial data, leading to a lack of visibility into profitability.
The last year's forecast is a dangerous weapon, representing an outdated model that ignores current financial constraints and market reality, leading to profitable revenue but poor overall margins.
Was it the manual integration that failed the operation? Or was it the outdated spreadsheet that crippled the system? You're standing on a crime scene where every evidence is a potential deception. Your only weapon is suspicion. It's time to look closer.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
ITEM NAME
Manual Integrations
INEFFICIENCY
Over-reliance on manual triggers for system integration.
NOTES
A suite of devices used to manually trigger data transfers, operating on the false pretense of 'system redundancy' while actually ensuring no system is fully autonomous.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
ITEM NAME
Oversized Boxes
INEFFICIENCY
Increased Shipping Costs (Dimensional Weight)
NOTES
The use of oversized boxes leads to wasted material, higher freight expenses due to dimensional weight pricing, and a negative environmental impact.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
ITEM NAME
Rusty Clipboard
INEFFICIENCY
Manual Inventory Counting
NOTES
Manual inventory counting leads to inaccurate records, operational delays, a high cost per count, and creates "motion waste" for staff.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
ITEM NAME
Fraying Headset
INEFFICIENCY
Lack of Customer Self-Service
NOTES
Reliance on calls for routine queries results in high customer support volume, low customer satisfaction, and a non-scalable support solution.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
ITEM NAME
Old Forecast
INEFFICIENCY
Outdated Demand Planning Model
NOTES
Using an outdated model results in misaligned inventory, ignores current market/financial constraints, and leads to poor profit margins.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
ITEM NAME
Outdated Spreadsheet
INEFFICIENCY
Manual Financial Modeling
NOTES
Manual modeling is prone to formula errors and "fat-fingering." It's non-scalable, limiting collaboration and real-time insights for critical decision-making.
Search stale meeting rooms, dusty warehouses, and compromised data centers for every digital footprint. Pinpoint the locations of the fatal decision and the subsequent cover-up.
Where customer data stalls waiting for a human hand.
FREQUENTED BY
IT Staff and Maintenance
COMMON INEFFICIENCIES
Reliance on manual data transfer and triggers between systems; high staff turnover due to repetitive, low-value work; and non-scalable support that is error-prone.
A high-traffic counter covered in scraps of tape and loose labels, surrounded by a chaotic assortment of boxes.
FREQUENTED BY
Fulfillment Associates and Shipping Carriers
COMMON INEFFICIENCIES
Congestion and bottlenecks, poor organization of packing materials, and a 'rush' mentality that prioritizes speed over quality/cost optimization.
A canyon of shelves where the inventory count is only as accurate as the pencil and paper used to record it.
FREQUENTED BY
Warehouse Staff and Temp Workers
COMMON INEFFICIENCIES
Inaccurate inventory counts from manual entry; motion waste as staff walk long distances to count; and delayed decision-making due to stale and unreliable stock data.
A bullpen of tightly packed desks, where digital data is born from tired eyes and manual transcription.
FREQUENTED BY
Customer Service Agents and Supervisors
COMMON INEFFICIENCIES
The high volume of incoming calls/queries overwhelms manual data processing; customers cannot self-serve simple data requests.
Where critical future plans are built on financial models that should have been retired last quarter.
FREQUENTED BY
Finance and HR personnel
COMMON INEFFICIENCIES
Lack of document version control, unauthorized desk-side audits, and an excess of printed, sensitive information.
A quiet corner office where projections are taped to the walls and a lone whiteboard holds cryptic flowcharts.
FREQUENTED BY
Demand Planners
COMMON INEFFICIENCIES
'Siloed' planning where forecasts aren't checked against financial outcomes, reliance on outdated historical data that ignores market shifts, and lack of integration with sales/marketing data.
Was it the Warehouse Manager in the Storage Area with the Rusty Clipboard? Or the Financial Analyst in the Admin Office with the Outdated Spreadsheet? You make the call, but prepare yourself. The truth will shock everyone.
Make Accusation