Operational Cost Exposure Index (OCEI)
A structured executive diagnostic that puts a conservative, defensible dollar figure on what your inventory operation is actually costing you - before you ever touch a system.
The Cost You've Stopped Seeing
Inventory-driven businesses are uniquely exposed to a specific kind of invisible loss. It doesn't show up as a single line item. It accumulates across departments, embedded in how people work around systems they don't fully trust.
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Extra stock held because the availability numbers aren't reliable. Reconciliations performed manually every month-end because the system and the spreadsheet never quite agree. Decisions that wait for data that's never quite final.
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Over time, these behaviors stop feeling like problems. They become the operating rhythm of the business. But they have a cost - and in most mid-sized inventory-driven organizations, that cost is material.
A Structured Diagnostic.
A Defensible Number.
The OCEI measures operating cost exposure across three pillars - every input comes from you, no assumptions on our part.
1
Manual Work
The recurring labor cost of workarounds your team performs every week because your systems require it. Quantified using actual headcount, task frequency, and fully loaded cost rates.
2
Inventory & Working Capital
Capital tied up in buffer stock that exists because planning outputs aren't trusted. Measured against industry benchmark turnover rates and cross-checked against your own financial data.
3
Decision Friction
The persistence multiplier. If data friction delays decisions, the costs in Pillars 1 and 2 don't resolve on their own - they compound. This pillar adjusts the total exposure accordingly.
This Is Not a Sales Pitch With a Number Attached
Every figure must be conservative enough to withstand the scrutiny of a skeptical CFO. Every input comes from you. The methodology uses documented industry benchmarks and conservative multipliers that are fully explained.
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The diagnostic can produce a result that says the status quo is fine and that the case for change is not yet warranted. That is a legitimate and respected outcome.
A three-gate decision framework is applied at the end of every diagnostic. The recommendation earned through that sequence carries weight precisely because it could have ended at Gate 1 or Gate 2.
Who It's For
Built specifically for mid-sized businesses where inventory, purchasing, warehousing, and finance are closely connected - and where inefficiency in one area compounds across the others.
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Your team spends significant time every month on reconciliations, inventory corrections, or manual reporting
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Inventory levels are higher than demand strictly requires - and everyone knows it but no one has quantified it
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Planning system outputs are regularly overridden because they aren't fully trusted
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Decisions routinely wait for data that isn't yet considered final
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You know there's a problem but haven't been able to put a number on it that justifies action
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Leadership is aware of the inefficiency but the conversation hasn't moved because no one has made the cost visible
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A Conversation, Not a Form
The OCEI is not a self-serve questionnaire. It is a structured diagnostic conversation conducted by an
Evolve consultant - completed in a single focused session of 60 to 90 minutes with finance and operations in the room.
1
Book a Discovery Call
A brief conversation to confirm the diagnostic is the right starting point. No obligation.
2
Schedule the Session
60 to 90 minutes with finance and at least one operational lead in the room.
3
Receive Your Results
A clear exposure range across all three pillars with the decision gate framework applied.
4
Decide What's Next
We give you an honest view of what the results warrant - including if the answer is to do nothing right now.
Find Out What Your Operation
Is Actually Costing You
Most inventory-driven businesses that go through the OCEI find the result is larger than expected - and more actionable than anticipated. The diagnostic is conducted at no cost.
Or reach out directly at connect@evolvegroup.ai