For Operators
Advisory Services for Supply Chain Operators
Your supply chain is holding value you haven’t captured yet.
Mid-market · $250M–$3B · North America
Independent supply chain advisory.
25 Yrs
Supply Chain Experience
1,000+
Executives Advised
12 Yrs
Gartner MQ Lead Author
4,000+
Practitioner Reach
Zero
Vendor Affiliations
The Challenge
Supply chain is where mid-market companies are most exposed — and least equipped.
For decades, most mid-market companies have treated supply chain as a transactional function: get the order, fill the order, ship the order. That worked when margins were wide and customers were patient.
Today, the pressure is different. Inventory costs are up. Service expectations are higher. PE sponsors and ownership groups are demanding EBITDA improvement. And supply chain vendors are now actively targeting mid-market — showing up with sophisticated software before companies even understand what their actual problem is.
“Most companies don’t have a technology problem. They have a strategy and vision problem. Technology comes later — if it’s even needed.”
Why this works
I actually listen.
I don’t come in with a pre-built agenda. I take the time to understand your business and your business challenges — then use what twenty-five years of supply chain has taught me to find what’s actually broken.
Quick to diagnose. Quick to recommend.
Signals
If any of these sound like your week, we should talk.
If two or more of the following are true on a Tuesday morning, the conversation is overdue.
- 01Service level stuck at 90% when you need 96.
- 02Forecast accuracy you can’t trust.
- 03Suppliers not shipping on time. Again.
- 04Safety stocks set wrong, variability eating margin.
- 05Inventory and carrying costs that are brutal.
- 06Paper-based ordering and manual inventory management.
- 07A fragmented supplier base of regional players.
- 08Project-based demand that breaks your planning model.
- 09A CFO or PE sponsor pressing for EBITDA improvement.
Advisory Services
Where the work happens.
Five defined engagement types. Each scoped tightly enough to deliver, each broad enough to matter. Most clients begin with a Value Leak Diagnostic and decide what comes next from there.
01
Value Leak Diagnostic & Roadmap
Find where service levels and cash flow are leaking — and what to fix first.
- Foundational
- Fixed Scope
A triage assessment that identifies where the supply chain is losing value — across planning, inventory, service, and technology — and delivers a prioritized roadmap for improvement.
Includes executive interviews, metric review, current-state assessment, and a workshop-style readout. Typically 6–8 weeks.
02
Supply Chain Maturity Assessment
Know where you sit. Know what good looks like next.
- Diagnostic
A structured evaluation of where your organization sits on the supply chain maturity curve — and what the journey to the next stage looks like for a company of your size, structure, and industry.
Delivers a customized maturity profile and step-by-step progression plan. Not a generic framework — built around your specific constraints and goals.
03
Vendor-Neutral Technology Advisory
Buy the right tool. Or sometimes, don’t buy at all.
- Vendor-Neutral
- Pre-Purchase
Independent guidance on whether you need supply chain technology, what category is right, and how to evaluate vendors without being sold to. Covers readiness, selection criteria, and how to run a meaningful evaluation.
Particularly valuable for organizations being actively solicited by vendors who have not yet done the foundational work to assess their own readiness.
04
Fractional Chief Supply Chain Advisor
A CSCO-level operator in the room. Without the full-time hire.
- Retainer
- Flexible Scope
Ongoing access to senior-level supply chain strategy on a fractional basis. Equivalent to having a seasoned supply chain executive in the room for major decisions — without the full-time cost or commitment.
Structured as a monthly retainer. Scope defined by your priorities: strategy reviews, board preparation, technology oversight, or organizational design.
05
Executive & Team Advisory Sessions
Get aligned on the next move. In one focused day.
- Workshop Format
- Project-Based
Targeted working sessions for leadership teams on specific supply chain topics: what good looks like in your industry, how to think about a specific technology category, how to structure a supply chain function, or how to build a business case for change.
Who This Is For
Mid-market distributors, wholesalers, and manufacturers between $250M and $3B in revenue — companies where supply chain is supply-chain-intensive but leadership has limited internal expertise to assess, improve, or transform it.
- Leadership teams without a dedicated VP or Chief Supply Chain Officer
- Companies under PE, investor, or family-ownership pressure to reduce costs or improve working capital
- Organizations evaluating supply chain software for the first time
- Companies that have bought technology but aren’t seeing the promised ROI
- Operations leaders who need an independent voice before a major decision
How We Work Together
How we work together.
01
Free discovery conversation
A 30-minute call to understand your current situation, pain points, and priorities. No agenda, no pitch. If there’s a fit, we talk about next steps. If not, I’ll point you toward someone who’s a better match.
02
Value Leak Diagnostic
A structured assessment of where your supply chain is underperforming — across planning, inventory, service levels, and technology. Interviews with key leaders, review of metrics, and a clear picture of where value is leaking and why.
03
Prioritized roadmap
A practical improvement plan with quick wins and longer-term steps. Some recommendations require no new technology. Others may lead to a technology conversation — on your timeline, with no vendor pushing you.
04
Ongoing fractional advisory
As needs evolve — strategy reviews, vendor evaluation, technology selection, organizational change — I’m available as a part-time strategic advisor without the cost of a full-time hire.
Why Independent Advisory Matters
No software to sell.
No preferred partner.
01
No software to sell
Unlike vendors or consulting firms with preferred technology relationships, there is no product or platform behind this advice. Recommendations are driven entirely by what is right for your business.
02
Practitioner perspective
Having worked inside global supply chains, advised hundreds of companies as an independent analyst, and sat at the executive table of a supply chain software vendor, the perspective here is genuinely multi-sided.
03
Built for mid-market speed
Large consulting firms optimize for large engagements. The model here is different: focused diagnostics, clear outputs, and practical recommendations — without a six-month engagement and a room full of junior consultants.
In their words
“Only someone that has operated at a high enough level — and has seen enough organizations and enough operations — can come in and do that.”
Begin the conversation
Ready to explore whether
there’s a fit?
30 minutes. No pitch. Just a conversation about what you’re working on and whether I’m the right person to help.
Or write directly: amber@salleyadvisory.com