What is a warehouse operations audit?
A DC Health Check warehouse operations audit is a fixed-fee ($4,500) remote review of one building's labor, shipping and flow performance, built from the exports your WMS and payroll system already produce, and delivered in about 20 business days with every calculation shown. It answers a small number of operational questions with numbers you can reproduce: what an order costs in direct labor, how many units move per paid hour, how often the building ships by its promise, how much of the paid time is overtime, and where the backlog sits.
It is not a safety or compliance inspection, not a software selection, and not a savings promise. It is the review an experienced operator would run on their own building if they had two uninterrupted weeks and clean data. The "DC" in the name is distribution center.
Who it is for: the person responsible for a warehouse, distribution center or fulfillment operation, typically 15 to 300 associates, at an independent 3PL, a distributor, or a brand running its own fulfillment. You bring a real question and the exports; we agree which measures can answer it before any money changes hands.
What does the audit cover?
The scope is set by the question you bring and the data you can export. Every audit covers the four core measures; the other diagnostic areas are included only when the supporting records exist, and each one is confirmed on the scope checklist before payment.
| Diagnostic area | What it answers | Records required |
|---|---|---|
| Labor cost per order (core) | What one completed shipped order costs in agreed direct labor, by week and by period, and what moved it: hours, rate, volume or mix. | Shipment export; daily labor hours and cost |
| Units per direct paid hour (core) | How much work the paid hours produced, on one consistent definition, and how it changed across shifts and weeks. | Shipped units; direct paid hours |
| On-time shipment rate (core) | The share of completed orders shipped by their documented promise, with the excluded records made visible. | Ship timestamps; promised ship date/time |
| Overtime share (core) | The share of direct paid hours recorded as overtime, and whether it tracks volume or something else. | Recorded overtime hours |
| Backlog and order aging | How old the unshipped work is at each cut-off and whether the building is keeping up. | Open-order snapshot(s) with order dates |
| Order and unit mix | Lines per order, units per line, single-line share; whether a productivity change is really a mix change. | Order-line detail |
| Receiving and dock-to-stock | Receipt lines per hour and the elapsed time from receipt to available-to-pick. | Receipt timestamps; putaway confirmations |
| Inventory accuracy | Cycle-count hit rate by location or SKU class, and its effect on picking exceptions. | Cycle-count results |
| Slotting and travel | Whether fast movers sit in the right zones, using pick frequency by location. | Pick transactions with location |
| Carrier and rate checks | Whether shipped weight, zone and service level match the invoiced charge. | Carrier invoices; shipment weights and zones |
Areas without the required records are reported as not measured, not estimated. A report that says "unavailable" where the data is missing is worth more than one that fills the gap with an industry figure.
What do you need to send?
Two exports support the core measures; the others widen the scope. Remove employee names, customer details, payment information and credentials before sharing anything. The transfer method and the data-handling terms are agreed first.
| Export | Typical fields | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Shipments (completed orders) | Order ID, completed-shipment date/time, shipped units, status, promised ship date/time | Cost per order, units per hour, on-time rate |
| Labor (daily) | Date, direct paid hours, recorded overtime hours, agreed direct labor cost | Cost per order, units per hour, overtime share |
| Order lines (optional) | Order ID, SKU, quantity, line status | Mix, cost per line, single-line share |
| Open orders (optional) | Order ID, order date, promised date, status at the snapshot time | Backlog and aging |
| Receipts (optional) | Receipt ID, received date/time, putaway-confirmed date/time, lines, units | Dock-to-stock, receiving productivity |
| Cycle counts (optional) | Location, expected, counted, date | Inventory accuracy |
| Pick transactions (optional) | Order ID, SKU, location, timestamp, quantity | Slotting and travel |
A CSV export from ShipHero, Extensiv/3PL Warehouse Manager, Logiwa, NetSuite, Fishbowl, Deposco or a similar WMS is normal. So is a spreadsheet, as long as one row means one thing. If you are not sure what a row represents, the duplicate-order checklist is the place to start, and the free CSV export checker runs in your browser without uploading the file.
How does a remote audit work?
- Scope call and checklist (days 1–3). You state the question. We confirm which diagnostic areas the data can support, the definitions we will use, the delivery date and the fee. Nothing is invoiced until the checklist is accepted.
- Data receipt and reconciliation (days 3–7). Every export gets a receipt check: row counts, date coverage, duplicates, blank identifiers, uneven records, time zones. Problems go back to you with a specific fix, not a vague "please clean this".
- Baseline and calculations (days 7–14). The four core measures are built by week and by period, from summed totals, with the formulas written beside the results. Optional areas follow the same rule.
- Findings and actions (days 14–18). Each finding separates what was observed, what was assumed, and what we propose to check or change. Actions are ranked by expected effect and effort, with the measure that would show whether they worked.
- Delivery and written Q&A (days 18–20). You receive the report and the calculation workbook. One written round of questions is included; a 20-minute readout is offered.
What do you get?
- The report. Executive summary, scorecard of the agreed measures, period comparison, findings with evidence, prioritized actions, data limits. The fictional Meridian sample shows the format; its numbers are synthetic and are not customer results.
- The calculation workbook. Every figure in the report traces to a summed total and a formula you can re-run on next month's exports.
- The definitions sheet. The exact definition used for each measure, so your team's weekly report and the audit agree.
- One written Q&A round. Up to three questions about the calculations and findings, answered in writing.
What does it cost, and how is it paid?
$2,250 deposit at scope acceptance, $2,250 on delivery, less an eligible Flow Scan credit. Dates are accepted before payment. Plan about 20 business days.
Free first: the one-page Flow Snapshot from one week of two exports. Optional $500 Flow Scan, credited once toward an audit accepted within 30 days. Ongoing: the Ops Intelligence Briefing at $3,000 per month.
The page on what a warehouse audit costs explains the price drivers and how on-site consultancies structure their fees, so you can compare like with like.
Is it the right fit?
| Good fit | Not a fit |
|---|---|
| You can export shipments and labor for at least eight recent weeks | The operation runs without a WMS or any labor record |
| One building, one decision owner, one question worth $4,500 to answer | Multi-site benchmarking with no shared definitions |
| You want the calculations, not a slide of conclusions | You need an implementation partner or interim manager |
| A 3PL owner, distributor or brand running its own fulfillment | A safety, OSHA or food-safety compliance inspection |
What the audit does not do
It does not promise a savings total or a business outcome. It does not rank your building against an industry table unless a sourced, dated, applicable comparison is agreed in the scope. It does not configure your WMS, hire, or run your peak. If we make a calculation error, we correct it; deliverables, acceptance checks and dates are agreed before payment.
Questions before you ask for a scope
Do you need to visit the building?
No. The standard audit is remote and built from your exports. On-site days are available only by a separately agreed scope and schedule; they are not part of the $4,500 audit. The page on remote versus on-site audits explains what each approach can and cannot see.
How long does the audit take?
Plan on about 20 business days from accepted data to delivery. The date is confirmed before payment, and it depends on the exports arriving in the agreed shape.
What if our exports are messy?
We inspect an agreed redacted sample first. Minor mapping is included. Larger cleanup is quoted separately or declined before any delivery date is promised, so you are never billed for a report that cannot be built.
Do you benchmark us against other warehouses?
Your building is compared with its own agreed baseline or comparable period. An external comparison appears only when its source, definition, date and permitted use are established in the scope. We do not publish or infer industry rankings.
Can the audit start from the free Flow Snapshot?
Yes. Most audits start that way. The free Snapshot shows what your two exports can support; the $500 Flow Scan widens the read; either can lead into the audit, and a paid Flow Scan is credited once toward an audit accepted within 30 days.
Will you implement the changes?
No. The audit ends with a prioritized action list and one written round of questions. Implementation, WMS configuration and staffing changes stay with your team. The monthly Ops Intelligence Briefing keeps the same four KPIs under review afterward if you want it.
Discuss the scope and the date.
Describe the building, the question and the systems. We reply with the checklist of exports, the diagnostic areas the data can support, and a delivery date. Requesting a scope is not a booking.
Discuss audit scope and timing →Or start free: the one-page Flow Snapshot from one week of two exports.