This agenda is part of the WMS rollout guide for warehouse automation advisors, which explains why the error-to-outcome chain matters. The archive context checklist follows up on the answers before the legacy system is switched off, and the annotated introduction email is what you send if the meeting ends in a yes.
Before you book the 15 minutes
Choose people for what they know about past orders, not about the new system.
| Seat | Why they are there | Speaks in block |
|---|---|---|
| Owner or CEO | Can say yes or no to a licensing discussion | 4, 5 |
| Operations or warehouse systems lead | Knows how short picks, re-picks and exceptions were logged | 1, 2, 3 |
| Customer service or finance lead | Knows where claims, returns and credits sit | 2, 3 |
| You, the advisor | Know the data mapping and what stays behind at cutover | 1 |
The invite needs one line: "Fifteen minutes on the pick-error and returns history before the old system is retired. Descriptions only, nothing exported." Leave the new vendor off the invite; their focus is go-live, and this meeting is about history that go-live does not need.
The agenda at a glance
Illustrative. A fictional 330-person cold-chain food distributor is moving three temperature-controlled sites to a new warehouse platform. Its legacy system has run since 2014, and returns are handled in the ERP.
| Minutes | Block | Question to ask | Who answers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-2 | Cutover scope | Does the new platform receive closed exception history, or only open orders and on-hand balances? | Advisor and operations lead |
| 2-6 | The core question | Are mis-picks connected to corrections and the confirmed customer outcome? | Operations and customer service |
| 6-9 | The join key | Which field ties a shipped order line to a later claim or return, and does the archive keep it? | Operations and finance |
| 9-12 | Span and owner | How many years, roughly how many order lines a year, and who owns each system? | Operations lead and owner |
| 12-15 | Disclosure and decision | Would the company like to hear how data licensing works, now, later or not at all? | Owner |
Keep time out loud. Take notes in four columns: block, answer, who said it, open item with a name beside it.
Block by block: what a good answer sounds like
Minutes 0-2: cutover scope
Good: "Open orders and on-hand balances move. Closed work and exception history stays in the old database, read-only, until the license ends." That answer tells you the history exists and that it has an end date. If the reply is "we migrate everything", ask whether that includes exception logs or only completed orders; teams often mean the second.
Minutes 2-6: the core question
Read the question exactly as written, then wait. Good: "When someone comes up short at a bin, the scanner logs it, they are sent to another bin, and if the customer still complains, customer service opens a return." Weak: "The pickers sort it out on the spot." The weak answer usually means the fix was never written down. Do not prompt with product vocabulary; let the operations lead describe their own screens. If they mention a dedicated exceptions log, as some systems keep (Microsoft documents one in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, where redirecting work after a short pick can be automatic, manual or both), note its name and move on.
Minutes 6-9: the join key
Good: "Customer service starts from the invoice, so every complaint carries the original sales order and line." Weak: "We look the customer up by name." Without a shared field, a complaint cannot be traced back to the bin, the picker or the substitution once the old database is offline. Ask one follow-up only: "Will the archive keep that field?" Accept "not sure" and write down who will find out.
Minutes 9-12: span and owner
Good: "Eleven years of exceptions, about 2 million order lines a year; operations owns the warehouse system and finance owns the ERP." Ranges are fine. Also ask whether customer contracts restrict reuse of order data; the honest answer is often "counsel would know", which is a usable answer.
Minutes 12-15: disclosure and decision
Say three things before asking. SourceX licenses approved business data directly from companies for AI training and evaluation, and manages agreement, rights review, data preparation, delivery and payout. You are a SourceX referral partner and may receive a reward if a qualifying license completes; SourceX pays it separately and it never reduces the company's payout. The rollout continues the same whatever the owner decides.
Signals to stop early
| What you hear | What it means | What to record |
|---|---|---|
| "The old system was hosted by our former 3PL, and they kept the data." | The company may not hold or control the records | The arrangement; stop |
| "We purge exceptions after 90 days." | Little or no chain survives | Closed |
| "We have about 45 employees." | Below the 50 full-time baseline | Closed |
| "Our largest customer's contract bans any reuse of order data." | Rights likely blocked | Note for counsel; stop |
| "We'd rather not." | The owner has declined | Closed; rollout unaffected |
The decision the meeting must produce
End with one outcome, a named person and a date, ideally tied to the legacy system's documented switch-off.
| Outcome | Fits when | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Introduce now | The chain links across several years, the owner is clear and opts in | Send the annotated introduction email |
| Revisit by a date | The archive plan or the legacy license end is still open | Work through the archive context checklist before that date |
| Stop | The owner declines, or size or rights rule it out | Record why and close |
For "introduce now", check fit: 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), documented operating history, rights to license and an authorized contact. Companies in the U.S., Canada and the EU qualify, as do companies in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, South Africa, Latin America, the UAE and Saudi Arabia when at least 90% of the data is in English. What stays unknown until SourceX reviews it: whether pick-error chains fit current dataset needs, the outcome of the rights review, de-identification and any offer.
Sign the Channel Partner Agreement before submitting. Attribution goes to the first valid introduction within the 90-day window, credited when the company submits a verified application, one partner per company. Illustrative only: a $100,000 Actual Supplier Payout would mean a $25,000 default reward, payable only after the conditions on the rewards page are met.
Related reading: cycle-count variance investigation records describe a neighboring warehouse record, the 3PL WMS consolidation guide covers multi-site cutovers, and the portfolio review agenda uses a timed format for investors.
Next step
Refer a company. Earn up to $100,000. Default reward: 25% of Actual Supplier Payout, capped at $100,000 cumulatively per referred company. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.
When the meeting closes on "introduce now", register as a partner, confirm the company on who qualifies and read the program terms before the legacy system goes read-only.