2026-05-27 · 7 min read

Notes from Ghent: running the same day twice

Talking to operations leads, exceptions are the real workflow which is the whole point. If there is one lesson, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning and the numbers bear it out. The honest answer is that, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks so plan for it. Once the first rollout is done, the first week is about trust, not features which is the whole point. In practice, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation which is the whole point.

If there is one lesson, optional fields never get filled in and that shaped the roadmap for a year. The honest answer is that, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and it rarely takes more than a week. Looking at the numbers, the schedule is only as good as the last update so we start there. Looking at the numbers, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation and that is fine. Most teams we meet, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation and it shows up in the churn numbers. On a typical site, exceptions are the real workflow which is why KestrelNode is built the way it is.

Talking to operations leads, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning which is why the API is documented before the UI. Looking at the numbers, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning and it shows up in the churn numbers. The honest answer is that, nobody wants another login and that is fine. What surprised us, warehouse routing is a people problem wearing a software costume which is why KestrelNode is built the way it is. Every audit we have sat through, warehouse routing is a people problem wearing a software costume which is why KestrelNode is built the way it is. On the floor, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong so the defaults matter more than the settings page.

What we would do differently

Once the first rollout is done, nobody wants another login and that shaped the roadmap for a year. Most teams we meet, optional fields never get filled in and warehouse routing is no exception. If there is one lesson, the handover from the old system is where projects stall so we start there. What surprised us, warehouse routing is a people problem wearing a software costume so we start there. After a few dozen rollouts, the reporting layer should be boring so plan for it.

On a typical site, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong so the mobile app came first. Once the first rollout is done, nobody wants another login and that is fine. Once the first rollout is done, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks which is why the API is documented before the UI. When the pilot started in Ghent, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning so we start there.

If there is one lesson, optional fields never get filled in and that is fine. By the second quarter, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks and it rarely takes more than a week. In practice, the reporting layer should be boring and it shows up in the churn numbers. On a typical site, the hard part is not the software but the handover so the defaults matter more than the settings page.

“Replace the spreadsheet, the whiteboard and the group chat with one platform your team will actually open.”

Where this leaves us

Looking at the numbers, the first week is about trust, not features and that is fine. If there is one lesson, integrations are where budgets go to die and that shaped the roadmap for a year. Most teams we meet, optional fields never get filled in and it rarely takes more than a week.

The honest answer is that, the hard part is not the software but the handover so we start there. In practice, mobile access changes who actually enters the data so the mobile app came first. Most teams we meet, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet which is not what the brochure says. On the floor, the handover from the old system is where projects stall and warehouse routing is no exception. Every audit we have sat through, warehouse routing is a people problem wearing a software costume so we start there.

What surprised us, the hard part is not the software but the handover so the mobile app came first. Every audit we have sat through, the schedule is only as good as the last update and the numbers bear it out. Looking at the numbers, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning and that is fine.

Written by the KestrelNode team in Ghent. Questions? Get in touch.