Five questions we answer in distributors and service centers.

Open one, or walk through our full process.

Why it persists
Every account has its own rhythm, and a CRM full of last-contact dates does not know them. An account that orders every six weeks can go dark for four months before anyone notices; by then a competitor holds the business.
How we solve it
ONELearn each account’s own ordering cadence from its history.
TWOFlag the accounts running past their own rhythm, not a generic ninety days.
THREERank the quiet list by the lifetime business behind it.
The end result
Every account’s own buying rhythm is watched, week by week.
A quiet account surfaces against its own cadence rather than a generic ninety days, ranked by the business behind it, so the call happens while there is still a quarter left to save.
Watch it get answered →
Why it persists
When replacement cost rises, yesterday’s sell prices quietly compress the spread. With thousands of line items nobody can re-price by hand fast enough, so the leak concentrates in the lines no one looks at.
How we solve it
ONETie every sell line to its true replacement cost, line by line.
TWOFind the lines running below the book’s own median margin.
THREEHand sales a ranked re-pricing list, refreshed nightly.
The end result
Every invoice line carries its own true margin.
The blended average stops hiding the thin tail. A floor can be set, priced and held the day the market turns, and the desk argues about which lines to hold instead of about whether the number is right.
Watch it get answered →
Why it persists
Inventory sits on the books at what you paid, not what it would cost to replace today. When the market slides, aged stock quietly sinks below replacement, and a tons-level view cannot see which lots.
How we solve it
ONEMark every lot against today’s replacement cost.
TWOAge it lot by lot, so the frozen tonnage shows itself.
THREERank what to move first, before it sinks further.
The end result
Every lot in the yard carries a live mark against today’s price.
The revaluation that used to be a year-end job, if it happened at all, runs on its own. And steel that is genuinely stuck reads differently from steel that is merely underwater this week, which is the difference between a decision and a markdown.
Watch it get answered →
Why it persists
The buy concentrates quietly: one counterparty grows convenient, one grade rides one supplier. Nobody decided to single-source; the spreadsheets just never showed it.
How we solve it
ONERoll the full buy up by supplier, grade, and share.
TWOFlag where one counterparty carries a whole grade.
THREESize what a point of leverage on the biggest relationships is worth.
The end result
Single-source exposure is a number now, not a feeling.
The buy is ranked by supplier and by grade continuously, so the grades riding on one house are named before that supplier lifts its price or misses a truck. A negotiating position and a risk register, not a surprise.
Watch it get answered →
Why it persists
A distributor’s cash is inventory wearing a price. The 13-week spreadsheet cannot re-price the yard when the market moves, so the one scenario that matters most is the one it cannot run.
How we solve it
ONERun the forecast off the reconciled books and the live yard.
TWOTie the market-price lever to every week of the quarter.
THREEWatch the low week move as the price slips.
The end result
The quarter’s thinnest week is visible before it arrives.
The forecast reads off the reconciled books and re-prices the yard the moment the market lever moves, so a price slip is something Atlas plans around rather than discovers. Current every day, not just the day someone built the spreadsheet.
Watch it get answered →