When sales growth stops being an advantage: which decision stage are you in?

Sales growth is often celebrated in companies as a clear success. In logistics, however, growth is often the moment when systemic weaknesses begin to surface. Most companies do not recognize a logistics problem at the moment it arises, but only later—when it starts to show externally, towards customers, sales teams, or management.

It is rarely a sudden collapse. Much more often, it is a gradual transition between stages in which the existing way of operating is no longer sufficient.

Stage 1: We’re still managing

At this stage, logistics is still keeping up with growth, even though it increasingly relies on operations and improvisation.

order growth is welcomed,
problems are handled reactively,
the system relies more on people than on data.

This stage is not a mistake. It is a natural state before change. The risk arises when a company stays here for too long.

Stage 2: We’re starting to hit limits

The volume and complexity of operations exceed what the original processes were designed for. Early signals begin to appear:

delivery lead times increase,
the warehouse operates at the edge of capacity,
exceptions and manual interventions become more frequent.

At this point, the issue is no longer performance. The problem is that processes were not designed for the current volume.

This is where companies most often start looking at automation—frequently without a clearly defined objective.

Stage 3: We know something needs to change, but we don’t know what

The company realizes the problem is no longer short-term, yet lacks a clear view of the right next step. This is the most sensitive moment, and decisions are postponed because:

the investment is significant,
it is unclear where returns will begin,
there is fear of making the wrong move.

“According to global data, approximately 8% of inventory is lost or written off each year due to insufficient visibility of its movement and condition.”
(Source: Avery Dennison)

Stage 4: The decision can no longer be postponed

Change becomes inevitable, and every further delay starts to generate real costs. The question is no longer whether, but how. Automation, however, is not the goal.

It is an intervention in the system that will either:

remove the bottleneck,
or lock it in for years to come.

Which stage are you in?

If you recognize your situation in one of the stages above, it makes little sense to look for solutions immediately. What matters more is first identifying where exactly the pressure is coming from—and why.

A first step can be a short diagnostic consultation focused exclusively on: