A spreadsheet has become business-critical.
Operational improvement, before technology
Don’t tell us what software you need. Show us how you work.
We come in before the software brief. We watch how work moves between people, files and systems, measure where time and information are being lost, and only then design the response.
No software pitch. We start with the operation.
Where friction hides
Most organisations know something is inefficient. They just don’t know where to start.
The same information is typed into more than one system.
Reporting takes days because data has to be rebuilt every month.
An approval waits for someone to notice an email.
A process slows down when the person who “knows how it works” is away.
Teams compensate manually for systems that do not talk to each other.
What we actually look at
Not the org chart. The path the work really takes.
We follow a process from trigger to outcome and mark where information waits, gets copied, changes owner or becomes dependent on a workaround.
Process Snapshot
Illustrative extract
Request
→
Email
→
Excel copy
→
Manual check
→
ERP
→
Approval queue
01 Same data entered twice
02 No clear owner during approval
03 Excel is carrying business logic
04 Delay is measured in waiting, not processing
How we work
A simple rule: understand the work before changing it.
We do not assume that every operational problem needs an app, an automation or AI. We follow the evidence.
Observe
We sit with leadership and with the people doing the work, and follow the process as it really happens.
Map
We map the steps, handoffs, data, systems and dependencies that keep the process moving.
Prioritise
We decide what is worth fixing first, based on impact, effort and operational risk.
Improve
We remove unnecessary work first; only then do we automate, integrate or build.
Measure
We compare the before and after in terms people can defend: time, errors, capacity and decision speed.
What we do not do
Some problems need less technology, not more.
We do not start by recommending software.
We do not automate a process just because it can be automated.
We do not add AI without a concrete operational reason and a way to measure the result.
We do not replace a system when removing steps or clarifying ownership solves the problem.
We do not hand the work to a junior delivery layer after the sale.
Services
Choose the level of involvement you need.
You do not need to arrive with requirements. Start with the problem and we will decide the right level of intervention together.
One-off diagnostic
Friction Scan
from €1,250
For organisations that want to know where to act before deciding what to buy or build.
Makes sense whenYou know something is not working, but you do not yet know where to intervene.
Not the right fit whenThe scope is already clear and you only need implementation capacity.
- Leadership and operational interviews
- Critical process review
- Friction Map and quick wins
- Prioritised 30 / 90 / 180-day roadmap
- Technology opportunities only where justified
Ongoing partner
Continuous improvement
Friction Partner
from €1,500 / month
For SMEs that want continuous operational improvement without building a dedicated internal team.
Makes sense whenUseful improvements keep being postponed because nobody owns them end-to-end.
Not the right fit whenYou only need a one-off technical task with a fixed specification.
- Fortnightly working session
- Continuous process audit
- Prioritised Friction Backlog
- Requirements and vendor support
- Small improvements and prototypes
- Transformation roadmap follow-up
Transformation programme
Friction 360
from €2,500 / month
For organisations that want process, data and technology improvements managed as one programme.
Makes sense whenProcesses, systems and data are connected enough that fixing one issue in isolation is no longer sufficient.
Not the right fit whenThere is no management sponsorship for cross-functional change.
- Cross-functional process review
- Data and reporting improvement
- Automation and systems integration
- AI use cases where they create measurable value
- Implementation and adoption support
- Impact and ROI tracking
Need us inside the operation?
Senior transformation capacity, without another permanent layer.
For some organisations, a monthly package is not enough. We can work alongside management, internal teams and suppliers to govern the transformation portfolio. We call this model a Fractional Transformation Office.
Talk to usResults
If the change works, it should show in the numbers.
Selected outcomes from operational work. Some engagements are presented without client names.
9 days → 36h
Multi-site management reporting
Manual monthly consolidation across five operational units was rebuilt into a reliable reporting flow with automated variance visibility.
Read the case study1–2 days → <5 min
Recurring HR reporting
A monthly spreadsheet process that consumed up to two working days was automated into a repeatable report generated in minutes.
PDF search → seconds
Production documentation
Operational teams can locate chemical information in production documentation in seconds instead of manually searching through PDF files.
“We were manually updating an Excel file every month for internal reporting. It consumed one to two full working days. Remove Friction automated the process — it now takes less than five minutes.”
“We used to spend significant time searching through PDF documentation to identify chemical substances used in our production process. With identicas, the information is retrieved in seconds.”
Technology, when it earns its place
We are comfortable building technology. We just do not start there.
When the diagnosis points to software, we can design and deliver it. These are two products already built from real operational needs.
Sometimes the answer is software. When it is, we can build it as well.
Typical toolkit: ERP · SQL Server · Power BI · Microsoft Power Platform · Azure · APIs · workflow automation · AI services.
Why Remove Friction exists
Too many technology projects begin before the operational problem is understood.
Remove Friction comes from almost two decades of work around ERP, business processes, data, reporting and project delivery. The same pattern kept appearing: organisations were often choosing a tool before they had mapped the work that tool was supposed to improve.
This is a senior-led, independent practice. We are comfortable with technology, but our job is not to maximise the amount of technology in your organisation. It is to make the operation work better.
Process before platform
Evidence before buzzwords
Senior delivery
Measurable outcomes
A useful place to start
Operational Friction — Where Growth Gets Stuck
A short executive brief with the signals of operational friction and a 15-minute self-check. No form, no gated download.
You do not need a specification.
You only need to know where the work hurts.
Show us the process, the spreadsheet, the recurring problem or the part of the operation nobody has had time to fix.
Start a conversation