Start with a recent job or order that your team remembers. Gather the request, quote, schedule, material records, job notes and invoice. Sit down with the people who handled it. The aim is to see where information traveled, where someone had to ask a question and which decisions depended on memory.
You do not need a polished process diagram. A sheet of paper is enough. Write down what actually happened, including the spreadsheet that quietly fills the gap between two applications.
Begin with what was promised.
At the first handoff, ask what the customer requested and where the agreed scope lives. Can the person scheduling the work see the same description as the person who quoted it? If the customer changed their mind, which record changed?
For example, a repair request might become an approved replacement. A manufacturing order might change to a different product variant or delivery date. Follow that change through the rest of the work.
Look closely at the moments between people.
Ask the next person what they need before they can begin. A technician may need site access details and the approved scope. A production planner may need the product revision, quantities and material availability. Write down where each answer comes from and who can correct it.
Then look for repeated entry. If someone copies a part number or customer address, ask why. Is the other system missing access, using a different identifier or waiting for an approval? A connection between applications needs to account for those differences. Otherwise, the same uncertainty can travel faster.
Pay attention to status words. “Done” may mean the visit ended, the order shipped or the paperwork passed review. Write what each status allows the next person to do. That is more useful than agreeing that everybody needs a dashboard.
Follow one exception as carefully as the normal job.
Choose an example with a return visit, unavailable material, partial delivery or corrected quantity. Who noticed the exception? Who decided what to do? Where did the revised information reach the office?
At invoicing, identify the evidence your team needs before it can proceed. Depending on the business, that could include approved changes, recorded work, delivered quantities or a customer acceptance step. Keep your finance owner involved in defining those requirements. The exercise should capture your rules, not invent new ones.
Use the map to choose the size of the change.
If the problem crosses sales, stock, scheduling and billing, the next conversation may be about ERP configuration or implementation. If the main systems work but a specific handoff fails, explore a focused integration or custom tool. A clearer responsibility or an existing setting may also resolve part of the problem.
AI assistance belongs in this discussion when interpreting or drafting information is part of the task. Mark who will check its output before it affects the next step.
These are connected parts of LVC's Software & AI work. The starting point is the task and the information it needs.
Bring the map to a software project conversation. It gives everyone a concrete starting point: one piece of work, the people responsible for it and a change they can test together.