What It Looks Like When We're Involved

You've read about everything that can go wrong. Here's what your Tuesday actually becomes when someone else is holding the complexity.

The 30-Second Version

We absorb complexity, you approve decisions. Your ops manager goes from 20 hours to 3 hours per shipment. Costs €800-2,500 per shipment depending on complexity. 90 days to steady state. The demo happens. You hear about it in the win announcement, not the crisis escalation.

Now the full picture.

The Question You're Actually Asking

You've read the articles. You believe we understand the traps—the EXW + LC problem, the consignee requirements, the timelines that stack instead of overlap.

But you're not hiring understanding. You're hiring relief.

"If I engage you, does my cognitive load go down—or does it initially go up while I manage another vendor?"

Fair question. Let me answer with your Tuesday.

What Your Tuesday Looks Like — Before

Sales closed a deal. Singapore. Government-adjacent. Demo in 9 weeks.

Your ops manager comes to you:

• "I think we need an export license but I'm not sure."
• "The product has batteries—does that matter?"
• "Can you look at this form? I don't understand question 14."

You spend 45 minutes on something you shouldn't be touching. Week 6: problem with the packer. Week 7: you're personally emailing the carrier. Week 8: you're explaining to the CEO why the demo might slip.

What Your Tuesday Looks Like — After

Same deal. Singapore. Government-adjacent. 9 weeks.

Day 2: We send a complexity score and timeline. "This is a 14—elevated. Government end-user plus batteries plus tight timeline. Kick-off call Thursday."

Thursday: 30 minutes. We confirm classification, identify the consignee from our network, flag that DG packing books by end of Week 2.

After that, your ops manager's involvement:

• Week 2: Confirm date with customer. Forward to us.
• Week 5: Sign the license application we've prepared.
• Week 7: Approve final shipping docs.
• Week 8: Receive tracking. Forward to customer.

Total ops manager time: 3 hours across 8 weeks.Executive involvement: zero.

The demo happens. You hear about it in the win announcement.

The Core Shift

Advisory model: We tell you what to do. You do it. Problems at 10pm are your problems.

Operating layer model: We own the complexity. You approve decisions. Problems at 10pm are our problems.

ActivityAdvisoryOperating LayerClassificationWe advise, you fileWe determine and documentLicense applicationWe review your draftWe prepare, you signPacker bookingWe recommendWe book from our networkProblem at 10pmYou call usWe call you with the solution

What We Don't Do

We're not lawyers. We don't provide legal opinions.

We're not customs brokers. Export from Switzerland is our focus. Import at destination is your customer's responsibility.

We're not volume freight. 500 identical units to a distributor? You need a logistics company. Complex, high-stakes shipments? That's us.

The 90-Day Reality

Days 1-30: We're in everything. Building documentation baseline. Higher touch than steady state—maybe 5-6 hours per shipment instead of 20, but still active.

Days 30-60: Patterns emerge. Products classified. Key destinations have consignees. Templates exist. Your ops manager starts recognizing routine vs. complex.

Days 60-90: Steady state. Routine shipments flow with minimal involvement. Your ops manager reviews; we execute.

After 90 days: Export logistics stops appearing in executive meetings.

One precision equipment company's experience: 4 shipments in the first 60 days, documentation baseline established, ops manager handling routine approvals by month 3. Their CTO hasn't been pulled into a logistics issue since.

The Maturity Ladder

Not everything needs fixing at once.

This quarter: Classification for top 5 products. Consignees for top 3 destinations. Certified packer identified. End-user screening in place. That's 80% coverage.

Next quarter: Secondary products. Secondary destinations. Templates standardized. Team trained on routine decisions.

When needed: New products, new destinations, new end-user categories.

We help you prioritize based on actual pipeline, not theoretical risk.

What It Costs

Pilot (2-3 shipments, 4-6 weeks): €5,000-8,000. Tests the fit.

Ongoing:

• Per-shipment: €800-2,500 depending on complexity
• Retainer: €2,500-6,000/month depending on volume

What that replaces:

• 15-20 hours of ops manager time per complex shipment
• Executive time on logistics issues
• The deals that don't fail (€180K vs €3K)
• The remediation you don't need (€40K+ cleanup)

For most mid-market companies: less than one senior hire, more capacity than one person.

Questions to Ask Us (Or Any Vendor)

1. "For shipment X to destination Y, what does your involvement look like week by week?" — If we can't answer concretely, we're not operational enough.
2. "Who handles the 10pm problem?" — Answer should be: "We do."
3. "What does my ops manager's week look like after 90 days?" — Should be specific hours, not vague "reduction."
4. "What's the minimum to cover 80%?" — If we can't prioritize, we'll boil the ocean.

Key Takeaways

Your Tuesday changes. From 45 minutes you shouldn't spend to a thumbs-up on Slack.

Cognitive load goes down, not up. After 90 days, this stops being an exec topic.

We own the 10pm problem. We call you with solutions, not problems.

Not everything is urgent. 80% this quarter. The rest can wait.

The math works. Less than one hire, more capacity than one person.

What To Do Now

You've read the seven articles. You understand why fires start.

We're the fire department. We put them out—and we install the sprinklers so they don't start again.

If you want to see what engagement actually looks like:

Schedule a 20-minute demonstration call. Bring a real shipment—something in your pipeline, something that's caused pain. We'll walk through our involvement week by week.

Not a pitch. A demonstration.

Contact FlowSpex

FlowSpex: We absorb the complexity so you can focus on the product.

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