Trucks leave late or short.
Missed cutoffs turn into chargebacks, expedites, and calls from customers.
What changes: Wave release and cutoff timing built around how the building actually flows.
WHERE IS IT HURTING?
Throughput is slipping
Missed cutoffs, rising overtime, flat units per hour.
A system change slowed us down
The WMS went live and the floor never fully recovered.
Peak is coming
Find the gaps while there is still time to fix them.
SELECTED RESULTS FROM PRIOR ROLES
$7.5BWorking capital program designed at Amazon. $1.9B to $2.6B in modeled cash flow release, approved by Treasury, Finance, and Procurement.
546,000Staffing hours eliminated across a 75-warehouse network consolidation (Amazon)
$60M+Indirect labor savings from a $25M automation project (Amazon)
42%Higher pick rates with no increase in labor hours (Spirit Halloween)
$9.4MSupplier savings negotiated, plus $10M in working capital (International Paper)
Results achieved in employment roles. They describe past work, not a promise of results for another operation.
ORGANIZATIONS I HAVE WORKED FOR OR SUPPORTED
CURRENTLYSenior Consultant, Spinnaker SCA.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
The problems that cost
distribution centers the most.
Each one has a cause you can find and a fix you can measure.
Overtime climbs. Units per hour do not.
Labor is the largest cost you control, and it is leaking into travel and rework.
What changes: Slotting, wave planning, and labor standards that raise output without adding hours.
Prior role: pick rates up 42% with no increase in labor hours.
The WMS went live and the floor slowed down.
Workarounds pile up, the data stops matching the floor, and nobody trusts the system.
What changes: Configuration and floor adoption work that separates learning curve from design problems and fixes the design.
Regional WMS subject matter expert across multi-site fulfillment.
Peak is coming and the plan is a guess.
Over-hire and margin goes. Under-hire and service goes.
What changes: Wave, labor, and throughput modeling before you commit people or capital.
Leaders find problems after the shift ends.
By the time the report runs, the day is already lost.
What changes: KPI architecture and an hourly operating cadence that surface problems while there is time to act.
Automation spend with no clear return.
Capital is committed before anyone agrees what it must deliver.
What changes: Business cases, vendor selection, and implementation oversight tied to measured savings.
Prior role: a $25M automation project delivered $60M+ in indirect labor savings.
Each of these has a cause you can find. Most work starts with a focused diagnostic of one site or one process.
WHAT WE FIX
Find the constraint.
Fix it on the floor.
Each engagement starts with the operation as it actually runs: the flow, the labor, the systems, and the numbers.
Assess
See where capacity is lost.
Measure the operation before changing it.
Warehouse operations diagnostic
Find where work waits, capacity is lost, and the numbers stop matching the floor. Get a prioritized improvement plan with the evidence, owners, and measures needed to act.
KPI mapping and operating cadence
Agree on what the numbers mean, who owns them, and what happens when performance moves outside the expected range. Connect reporting to decisions while there is still time to respond.
Systems
Choose and run the right systems.
Match the system to the operation, then make it work on the floor.
WMS and WES selection
Define the work the system must support before comparing vendors. Build requirements and operating scenarios that make the tradeoffs visible.
WMS go-live and stabilization
Work through the gap between system behavior and floor execution. Separate training needs, process problems, configuration questions, and workarounds so the right owner can address each issue.
Capacity
Plan for peak before it arrives.
Model the volume, then staff and equip the site for it.
Capacity planning and simulation
Test the volume, labor, and flow assumptions behind the plan. Identify where the operation runs out of capacity before committing people, space, or capital.
Interim Operations Leadership
Embedded leadership for a site or region through a transition, a system change, or a peak season.
Cost
Release cash from the supply chain.
Procurement and working capital, grounded in operations.
Procurement and Working Capital
Supplier negotiation, contract structure, and payment terms that reduce cost without disrupting supply.
Capital Projects and Automation
Business cases, vendor management, and implementation oversight for warehouse automation investments.
Standard: operational documentation
Turn operating knowledge into instructions the team can use. Standard connects KPI response rules, work instructions, handoffs, and exception recovery to clear ownership and completion checks.
FREE FIELD GUIDES
Start with answers.
No email required.
Practical guides on the problems above, written from the floor.
Free tool · 2 minutes
Peak readiness check
Answer 12 yes or no questions about your building. Get a readiness score and a list of what to fix first, before volume arrives.
Score your building ↗Peak planningPeak readiness: 12 checks to run before volume hits
The questions that separate a hard peak from a broken one. Run them early enough to act on the answers.
Read the guide ↗FlowStarved, constrained, or blocked: how to read a pile
A pile on the floor looks like one problem. It is usually one of three, and each needs a different fix.
Read the guide ↗SystemsAfter the WMS go-live: why productivity drops and how to recover it
A dip after go-live is common. Staying in the dip is not. Where the hours go and how to get them back.
Read the guide ↗LaborUnits per hour, not headcount: a labor plan that holds at peak
Headcount plans miss because they skip the math. How to build labor from rates by process.
Read the guide ↗SystemsChoosing a WES: what to settle before you talk to vendors
Warehouse execution systems are hard to compare and expensive to get wrong. Decide these things first.
Read the guide ↗WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER
A defined scope.
A measurable result.
Diagnostic
A fixed-scope review of one site or one problem.
- Onsite or remote assessment
- Findings with supporting data
- Prioritized improvement plan
Scoped per engagement.
Project
Implement a defined improvement, from a system selection to a capacity plan.
- Deliverables and acceptance criteria
- Implementation with your team
- Documentation and handoff
Scoped per engagement.
HOW WE WORK
Remove before you add.
Automate last. Hold the gain.
The order matters. Most operations automate or staff up a process that should have been simplified first.
Built on Lean's eliminate-first discipline and the five-step sequence Elon Musk popularized, applied to the warehouse floor, starting at the constraint and ending with a gain that holds.
Question every requirement.
Start at the constraint. Every step, report, and rule there has to earn its place. Find out who needs it and why.
Delete what does not earn its place.
Remove touches, handoffs, and approvals before improving anything.
Simplify what remains.
Make the process easy to run right and hard to run wrong.
Speed up the cycle.
Only now, raise the pace at the constraint and shorten the time from release to ship.
Automate last.
Put systems and automation on a process that is already lean, so you do not automate waste.
Hold the gain.
Write the standard work, name the owner, and set a recheck. An improvement that fades in a month was never finished.
FOUNDER: CEDRIC CORBETT
An operator first.
Every engagement led personally.
Cedric Corbett has led fulfillment, distribution, and procurement operations at Amazon, International Paper, and Spirit Halloween. He has owned multi-site P&L performance, led teams of 500 to 600 associates, and served on a 75-warehouse network consolidation steering committee.
He is currently a Senior Consultant at Spinnaker SCA. He holds a B.S. in Global Supply Chain and Operations from the University of South Carolina and is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.
Full experienceRoles, results, and selected work ↗SELECTED WORK
Prior work.
From the floor.
Seasonal peak distribution.
Pick rates up 42% with no added labor hours across a multi-site network. Read the case study ↗
CAPABILITY SUMMARY
Capability
summary.
| Company | Obsidian Axis Group |
|---|---|
| Focus | Warehouse, distribution, fulfillment, and supply chain operations |
| Core capabilities | Operations diagnostics · DC simulation and capacity planning · WMS and WES selection and transition · KPI architecture · Procurement and working capital · Lean Six Sigma continuous improvement |
| Engagement types | Diagnostic · Project · Interim leadership |
| Location | Upstate South Carolina. Onsite and remote engagements. |
| Contact | cedric@obsidianaxisgroup.com |
BEFORE WE TALK
Common questions.
How are engagements priced?
Every engagement is scoped individually. You receive a written scope with deliverables, timing, and fees before work begins.
What happens first?
We discuss the operation, the constraint, and the outcome you need. If there is a fit, we walk the floor, review the data, and agree on deliverables and measures of success before any work begins.
Who does the work?
Cedric Corbett leads every engagement personally. If the scope requires additional specialists, their roles are agreed before work begins.
We are a small business outside supply chain. Can you help?
Yes, through cedriccorbett.com, which covers business systems and growth for small and midsize companies.
START A CONVERSATION
Tell us where the operation is getting stuck.
Describe the site, the problem, and what needs to improve. Late departures, rising overtime, a difficult system transition, or an unclear handoff are enough to start the conversation.
Book a call
cedric@obsidianaxisgroup.com ↗
Choose a time on the booking screen.