Objective
Prove that new-supplier onboarding at Northwind can run end to end in Flux Flow, on Northwind's real suppliers, without changing who approves what.
The workflow in scope
New-supplier setup: request, document collection, review, and approval to transact. Today it runs across email and the ERP module, and Northwind describes it as two to three weeks, most of it waiting on a review.
Nothing else moves. Expense approvals, purchase orders, and payment runs stay exactly where they are for the duration.
Success criteria
| Criterion | How it is measured | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Cycle time | Days from request to approved-to-transact, measured in Flux across the pilot window | Halve the current baseline |
| Coverage | Share of new suppliers in the window routed through Flux rather than email | 90% |
| Trail | A completed onboarding can be reconstructed end to end, with dates and approvers, without asking a person | Every completed request |
| Handover | Northwind runs the workflow without Flux in the room | Demonstrated live |
The baseline is the first thing the pilot establishes. Before it starts, we measure the last ten suppliers Northwind onboarded, from their own records.
Plan
| Week | What happens | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Baseline: dates for the last ten onboardings | Northwind |
| 1 | Workflow configured to Northwind's review steps and approvers | Flux |
| 2 | First live suppliers routed through Flux, email path still open | Both |
| 3 | Checkpoint against the criteria; adjust routing | Both |
| 4 | Handover session: Northwind runs it, Flux observes | Northwind |
Who is involved
| Name | Side | Role in the pilot |
|---|---|---|
| Lena Fischer | Northwind | Owns the workflow day to day, runs the handover |
| Roberto Castellanos | Northwind | Reviews supplier documentation, approves the routing design |
| VP Finance | Northwind | Sign-off that the pilot met its criteria |
| Marcus Hale | Flux | Pilot lead, weekly checkpoint |
What Flux needs from Northwind
- The last ten onboardings, with request and approval dates, for the baseline.
- The review steps as they actually run, including who covers an absence.
- The documentation set a new supplier has to produce, including anything the supplier-documentation audit finding requires.
- A named approver for each step, and one backup.
Out of scope
Expense approvals, purchase orders, payment runs. Migrating historical supplier records. Replacing the ERP module. Anything that changes who approves what.
Open questions
- How many new suppliers does Northwind onboard in a typical month?
- Which system has to receive the approved supplier record, and who owns access to it?
- What does security review look like at Northwind, and who starts it?