Measure the work before pricing the saving
Start with the warehouse problems you can observe: time spent looking for stock, repeated picks, recounts and manual reconciliation. Agree how those activities will be measured and who checks the figures. A business case is more useful when finance can reproduce it.
This is an evaluation framework, not a customer case study or a promise of savings. Replace every assumption with your own evidence as the assessment progresses.
Separate time released from money saved
Observe a representative set of shifts and record the number of affected tasks and the minutes spent on each. Capture peak and quiet periods. Include supervisor time, rework and any extra checks introduced by the new process.
As fictional arithmetic, 40 searches per day taking three minutes each amount to two hours daily. Over 20 working days that is 40 hours. Releasing those hours does not automatically reduce payroll: explain whether the benefit is additional capacity, less overtime or a cost that can actually be removed.
Keep benefits from being counted twice
- Separate reduced search time from reduced pick time if they overlap.
- Distinguish a one-off stock adjustment from a recurring operating benefit.
- Use the agreed costing method when valuing stock differences.
- Do not treat every avoided stockout as a recovered sale without evidence of demand and margin.
- Record who owns each assumption and how it will be checked during the pilot.
Include the full cost of adoption
Allow for subscription charges, implementation, connector work, data preparation, labels and scanning devices. Include training, internal project time, support and any work needed to keep integrations operating. Specify currency, tax treatment and the period covered so the comparison is consistent.
Some costs occur once and others recur. Keep them separate in the model. Where a cost depends on the scope of your ERP integration, obtain an estimate for that scope instead of assuming it is part of a subscription.
Show a range and the conditions behind it
Prepare conservative, expected and optimistic scenarios. Change the assumptions that matter: adoption rate, transaction volume, time released and integration cost. If you calculate payback, divide the upfront investment by a positive monthly net benefit and explain which costs and benefits are included. A zero or negative monthly net benefit does not produce a meaningful positive payback period.
Use the pilot to replace assumptions
Agree a review date and compare the pilot evidence with the original model. Report operational improvements separately from cash savings. Decide what must change before rollout if the evidence falls short. Discuss the evidence your investment case needs.