Engines, by symptom

Name the pain. The engine that removes it has a name too.

// an engine takes a job your team does by hand and runs it for them. find your symptom below. recoveries are typical figures from real builds at $35/hr loaded cost, not a quote. yours is missing? that is the fun part.

F-01

Someone on your team builds the same report by hand, every day.

reporting_engine: the report builds and delivers itself before anyone walks in.

typical recovery: 5–15 hrs/wk ≈ $9K–$27K/yr

F-02

Your tools don't talk. People re-key data between them, and the totals still don't match.

sync_engine: your systems connected, one set of numbers everyone trusts.

typical recovery: 4–10 hrs/wk ≈ $7K–$18K/yr

F-03

Stockouts surprise you. So does overstock.

inventory_engine: live weeks-of-supply, reorders drafted before the shelf goes empty.

typical recovery: 3–8 hrs/wk ≈ $5K–$15K/yr, plus the sales a stockout never loses

F-04

You know what sells. You don't know what makes money.

margin_engine: true cost and true margin on every item, vendor, and location.

typical recovery: 1–3 points of margin on affected lines

F-05

You buy on gut, your cash sits on the shelf, and you negotiate vendor terms blind.

purchasing_engine: every order sized by sell-through, payment terms backed by data, suppliers graded by what they earn you.

typical recovery: five to six figures of cash freed from shelves and float

F-06

Schedules come from memory. Overtime creeps. The busy hours run short-staffed.

labor_engine: labor matched to demand instead of guesswork.

typical recovery: 2–6 hrs/wk ≈ $4K–$11K/yr, plus the overtime that stops creeping

F-07

Regulator paperwork eats days every month, and one error is expensive.

compliance_engine: the reports regulators want, generated automatically, audit-ready always.

typical recovery: 5–20 hrs/mo ≈ $2K–$8K/yr, plus the violation that never happens

F-08

Bringing on a customer, vendor, or hire means forms, email chains, and chasing.

intake_engine: one clean flow from first contact to done.

typical recovery: 2–6 hrs/wk ≈ $4K–$11K/yr

F-09

Invoices go out by hand and your accounting system is always behind.

billing_engine: invoices generated, payments tracked, synced straight into QuickBooks or whatever you run.

typical recovery: 3–10 hrs/wk ≈ $5K–$18K/yr, plus faster collections

Not sure which switch is yours? The drag check prices your week in sixty seconds.