Great. Existing SOPs can provide a strong starting point for understanding how the organization believes work should flow.
During a workflow diagnostic, the first step is validating whether those SOPs match reality. In many organizations, the documented process reflects the "happy path" while the actual work includes workarounds, informal approvals, and undocumented exception handling.
In distribution environments especially, the exception flow often matters more than the standard process. Orders change, inventory moves, and customer requests shift quickly. Understanding how those exceptions are handled reveals where operational friction, delays, or manual effort are being introduced.
