Composite example · Field service & installation · ~$120M revenue · 240 technicians
Composite example: a field-service business that added 28% capacity with the same headcount
Composite example — a value-stream redesign and standard work lifted billable utilization from 58% to 74% and cut the quote-to-schedule window from 11 days to 3.
- Disciplines deployed
- SIMPLIFY → LEAD
- Measurement window
- 9 months
- Measures reported
- 4
Condition 03 of eight
Strategy and execution are misaligned
The plan is clear; the results are not. The say–do gap becomes the organization's actual strategy.
All eight conditionsPresent reality
Demand exceeded delivery, yet technicians spent much of the day waiting on parts, approvals and information. The stated answer was hiring; the operating evidence said otherwise.
Constraint
The work had never been designed: scheduling, materials and approval sat in three uncoordinated queues, so capacity was consumed by the handoffs between them.
Intervention — architecture installed
End-to-end value-stream read from quote to closeout, standard work for the three highest-volume job types, a single scheduling authority, and a daily operating cadence with escalation inside the shift.
FOUNDATION → SIMPLIFY → LEAD → GROW
Mapped to the operating system
What was architected inside each discipline, and the measured consequence. Disciplines held out of scope are shown with the reason — nothing is implied by omission.
1. FOUNDATION
Build
Held out of scope
Structure was adequate; the constraint sat in how work was released to technicians.
Result: No structural change was needed to release capacity.
FOUNDATION →2. SIMPLIFY
Focus
Loaded in this engagement
One dispatch and scheduling standard, with work released against capacity rather than on request order.
Result: Utilization rose without adding technicians.
SIMPLIFY →3. LEAD
Execute
Loaded in this engagement
A daily operating review at branch level on leading measures.
Result: Same-day completion held instead of drifting between branches.
LEAD →4. GROW
Scale
Held out of scope
Out of scope: the released capacity was first proven stable, then sold — not sold and then hoped for.
Result: Capacity is now the input to the growth conversation rather than the risk in it.
GROW →
ARC™ — the renewal loop around all four
The scheduling standard is re-read against realized capacity every month, with changes made by the service leads.
ARC™ →Measured result — what moved, and by how much
| Measure | Before | After (9 months) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billable utilization | 58% | 74% | +16 pts |
| Quote to scheduled start | 11 days | 3 days | −73% |
| Jobs completed on first visit | 71% | 91% | +20 pts |
| Revenue per technician | $412K | $528K | +28% |
Billable utilization
+16 pts
Before58%After74%Standardized against Billable / productive utilization — Composite example. Scheduled available hours as the denominator.
Quote to scheduled start
−8 days
Before11 daysAfter3 daysStandardized against Lead time, request to scheduled start — Composite example. Median across the same three job types.
Jobs completed on first visit
+20 pts
Before71%After91%Standardized against Completed right the first time — Composite example. Rework counted against the original job.
Revenue per technician
+28%
Before$412KAfter$528KStandardized against Revenue per employee — Composite example. Technician FTE basis.
The business grew into its backlog on existing headcount, and hiring became a planned decision rather than a reflex.
Transfer — what the client now owns
Operations leaders own the standard work, the scheduling authority and the daily cadence, and revise them through the ARC™ loop without Compass present.
Compass leaves architects, not dependency.
Client identities, brands, and locations are withheld under confidentiality. Metrics are client-reported and measured over the window shown; they describe those engagements and are not a projection of results for any other enterprise.
Start with your own present reality
Every engagement above began with an honest read of the architecture already producing the results. Score yours, or schedule a conversation.
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