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Before close: map what must keep running
I map order flow, planning, procurement, inventory, manufacturing, distribution and shared services. For each parent dependency, I record the service owner, contract or system dependency, lead time and consequence of failure. I separate Day-1 requirements from improvements that can wait.
Days 1–30: establish control
I baseline service, backlog, usable inventory, supplier risk and cash exposure. I name owners for ERP, warehouse, procurement and shared-services workstreams, establish daily exception reviews and maintain one decision log. Each TSA service needs an exit owner and a replacement operating model.
Days 31–60: prove readiness
I test end-to-end transactions with real scenarios, including quality holds, supplier delays, inventory transfers, invoicing and returns. I use evidence-based readiness gates for data, people, process and technology, and define fallback actions and escalation triggers.
Days 61–100: exit and stabilize
I sequence exits around tested dependencies and customer commitments. I monitor cutover and hypercare against agreed thresholds, transfer ownership to the permanent team and distinguish contracted, implemented and sustained benefits. Day 100 is a planning horizon; individual TSA exits follow validated readiness.
The executive scorecard
I track service and supply continuity, overdue decisions, readiness evidence, TSA exposure, working capital and realized benefits. Every metric needs a baseline, owner, reporting frequency and corrective-action trigger.
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JGSmith.com presents my executive experience and personal leadership services. I lead interim, fractional and advisory assignments through Digital-SCM, LLC, the consulting firm I founded. Enterprise consulting and transformation programs are scoped and contracted through Digital-SCM, with me leading the work.
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