It's a structured process for identifying, quantifying, and prioritizing technology and operational improvement projects in your distribution business. The four steps are: Preparation (scoring 31 common distributor projects), Problems (turning symptoms into problem statements), Proof (building a quantified business case), and Priority (plotting projects on an impact vs. complexity matrix so you know where to focus first).

Mid-market distributors — owners, operations leads, pricing managers, sourcing teams, or anyone responsible for making the case for a technology or process investment internally. The framework works whether you're the decision maker or the internal champion trying to get a project funded.

No. The goal is not a precise financial model — it's a defensible estimate with a range. The workshop walks through how to use conservative, moderate, and aggressive bands so you can present leadership with options rather than a single number you can't defend.

That's expected — and the workshop addresses it directly. If you don't know the complexity, you flag it, do some research, or bring in someone who does. The point of the exercise is to expose those gaps before you're standing in front of your leadership team.

Yes — and this came up in the session. Most distributors do already know what their top priorities are. The framework gives you the structured business case to back it up, and more importantly, it gets your whole team aligned on why other projects aren't moving forward. That organizational clarity is often more valuable than the prioritization itself.

Skip what doesn't apply (mark it zero). And if you have a project not on the list, add it. The 31 projects are a starting point, not a constraint.

Both approaches work, but doing it as a team produces better results. Different functions — sales, finance, operations, warehouse — will have completely different symptoms for the same underlying problem. Getting those perspectives in the room before you build your pitch prevents conflicts later.

The prep scoring (all 31 projects) should take no more than 30 minutes if you move quickly — the goal is directional, not precise. The problem statement and proof steps take longer depending on how deep you go. The full framework can be done in a focused half-day working session with your team.

 A one-page pitch you can take to your owner or leadership team — with a clear problem statement, quantified opportunity (conservative to aggressive range), impact and complexity scores, risk factors, and a recommended next step.