Closing a $110K–$135K EBITDA Leak Hiding in a Process Ownership Gap

Written By Leo Bauer

Client: Mid-size medical/ophthalmic equipment distributor, multi-site operation

The Challenge Shipping mode (Ship Via) decisions were being made in the warehouse, downstream of order entry, with no standardized logic. The result: a daily error rate exceeding 10% and expedited-freight costs quietly eating into margin, costs nobody had formally traced back to a root cause.

The Approach Built a data-driven business case identifying the true point of failure: shipping mode needs to be determined at order entry, not fulfillment. Quantified the annual EBITDA impact, partnered with Customer Care leadership to realign process ownership, and submitted a system enhancement request to build shipping-mode validation logic directly into the ERP.

The Result Identified $110K–$135K in annual EBITDA leakage and built the cross-functional case to close it, turning a warehouse "shipping problem" into what it actually was: an order-entry process gap.

Leo Bauer

I am a results-minded and performance-driven senior supply chain leader with a master’s degree in supply chain management and 10+ years of expertise in global supply chain logistics and warehouse operations management.

Throughout my career, I have been successful at leveraging Lean Six Sigma methodologies and data/KPI analysis to drive continuous improvement in efficiency, cost control, and team performance.

I am highly regarded as a strategic planner with a track record of bringing structure and order amid chaos via methodical decision-making and cross-functional collaboration.

I take pride in being an empowering servant leader who fosters a culture of safety and accountability to optimize performance and align all members toward a common mission and vision.

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