Autonomi Ops Academy
OPERATIONS TRAINING
Ready to start your first deployment?
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YOU ARE HERE · PH 01 — SUPPORT TEAM KICKOFF✓ DONE● HERE▲ ON-SITE┊ GATE
0/10PHASES DONE
—CHECK SCORE
3SITE VISITS AHEAD
STAGE 1PLAN & DESIGN
STAGE 2READINESS
STAGE 3INSTALL & ADOPT
Support Team Kickoff
RIVERSIDE STATECONTACT NAMEDSTAKEHOLDERS IN ROOMSURVEY DATECOMMS CHANNEL
MODULE 01 · ~15 MIN
The contract is signed. From this meeting on, the deployment is yours.
One meeting sets the scope, the people, and the clock for everything that follows. You'll run it inside a story: the Riverside Women's Health deployment.
YOU'RE ON THE HOOK
The Riverside deal just closed. The AE forwards you one line: "GM is excited, wants to move fast — take it from here?"
No contact list. No scope doc. Nothing scheduled. Your first move?
✓ RIGHTThe handoff runs through Sales: they owe you a designated contact and the stakeholder picture. Then you schedule the kickoff, with the agenda in the invite. Structure now beats speed now.
✗ FAST START, SLOW MIDDLEYou're building on sand — no designated contact, no stakeholder map, no confirmed scope. The GM may not even be your contact. Get the handoff from Sales first.
✗ WRONG OWNERIf Sales keeps running communications, you'll fight two-channel chaos all deployment. The handoff moves ownership to ops — take it.
THE HANDOFF
Ownership moves from Sales to Ops — through one named contact.
1Sales hands you a designated contact on the customer's support team
2You schedule the kickoff — call or meeting, agenda in the invite
3From kickoff on, ops runs the deployment — one channel, one owner
Deployments die in diffuse communication. One named contact means every request has one door and every decision has an owner on their side. Without it, the SKU list comes from one person, the room access from another, and nobody feels responsible when a date slips. You'll meet more stakeholders at kickoff — but the contact is who you chase, and who chases for you.
WHO'S IN THE ROOM
Three perspectives, or you're planning blind.
Operations representativeRuns the customer's day-to-day. Your designated contact usually sits here.KNOWS HOW THE FACILITY ACTUALLY RUNS
GM or administratorOwns budget, access decisions, and logistics commitments.CAN SAY YES TO DATES AND DOORS
Clinical rep — often a nurseOwns how supplies are actually used, room by room.KNOWS WHAT RUNS OUT ON THURSDAYS
Because the room you're deploying serves clinical workflows, and only clinical staff know them. The GM knows the contract; the nurse knows that speculums disappear twice as fast in exam room 3, that the morning rush needs eye-level placement, that a locked cabinet at 7 AM is a crisis. Every deployment that skipped clinical input at kickoff paid for it at the planogram — or worse, after go-live in adoption.
THE AGENDA · COPY IT STRAIGHT INTO THE INVITE
Nine items. They build toward one exit.
1High-level overview of the Autonomi system
2Autonomi personnel & roles
3Customer personnel & roles
4Confirmation of project scope
5Implementation timeline & key milestones
6Roles, responsibilities, points of contact
7Site survey prerequisites & readiness
8Scheduling of the site survey
9Communication cadence & next steps
The site survey is the gate to the entire timeline — room plans, SKU planning, logistics, install date all queue behind it. Items 1–7 are alignment; item 8 is commitment. A kickoff that ends with warm feelings but no survey date produced alignment about nothing. Item 7 exists so item 8 can happen: prerequisites reviewed, then the date goes on the calendar.
TRY IT
It's 9:55. Kickoff ends at 10:00, three items still uncovered. Which one do you refuse to leave without?
✓ RIGHTThe survey gates everything downstream. SKU requirements can go by email tomorrow; an install date promised before the survey is a guess you'll be held to.
✗ NOT QUITESKU requirements can follow by email; an install date before the survey is a guess you'll be held to. The one thing that can't leave the room unscheduled: the site survey — it gates the entire timeline.
CHECK 1 OF 3
The GM says: "No need to drag a nurse into this — I can speak for the clinical side."
✓ RIGHTSeniority isn't knowledge. The GM knows the contract; clinical staff know the workflows the room must serve. Frame it as protecting the GM's timeline — that's what it does.
✗ NOT QUITEThe GM knows the contract, not the Thursday-morning supply rush. Scope confirmed without clinical input gets re-litigated at the planogram — or after go-live. Politely insist now; it protects the GM's own timeline.
CHECK 2 OF 3
The kickoff went great — but it's ending with "we'll get back to you on survey dates."
✓ RIGHT"We'll get back to you" is where timelines go to die. A held date plus a decision deadline turns their silence into a schedule instead of a stall — politely, and in the meeting.
✗ NOT QUITEUnbounded "we'll get back to you" quietly eats two weeks. The move happens inside the meeting: hold a specific date, set a confirm-by deadline, offer the fallback. Their silence then produces a schedule, not a stall.
CHECK 3 OF 3
A week after kickoff, the GM is still emailing the AE with implementation questions.
✓ RIGHTTwo-channel comms is how scope drifts — the AE answers generously, and suddenly you own promises you never made. Redirect warmly, both sides, no drama.
✗ NOT QUITELetting it ride means the AE keeps making well-meant promises you'll have to keep; scolding the GM burns goodwill. The fix is quiet and two-sided: AE redirects every thread to you, you restate the channel with the GM.
🥉
Module 01 complete.
Phase output: scope & stakeholders aligned · points of contact named · site survey scheduled · comms cadence set.
Next · Module 02 — Site Survey & Room Planning.
THE HANDOFF
Sales → Ops, through one named contact. Sales provides the designated customer contact; you schedule the kickoff; from then on ops runs the deployment on a single channel.
WHO'S IN THE ROOM
| PARTICIPANT | BRINGS |
|---|---|
| Operations representative | Day-to-day operations — usually your designated contact. |
| GM / administrator | Budget, access, logistics — can say yes to dates. |
| Clinical rep (nurse) | How supplies are actually used. Don't skip. |
AGENDA · COPY INTO THE INVITE
- High-level overview of the Autonomi system
- Autonomi personnel & roles
- Customer personnel & roles
- Confirmation of project scope
- Timeline & key milestones
- Roles, responsibilities, points of contact
- Site survey prerequisites & readiness
- Scheduling of the site survey
- Communication cadence & next steps
DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT
Site survey scheduled — or a hard confirm-by deadline with a held date
Points of contact named — both sides
Comms cadence agreed — one channel, through you
TRAPS
| TRAP | THE MOVE |
|---|---|
| "We'll get back to you on dates" | Hold a date, set a confirm-by deadline — in the meeting. |
| GM speaking for clinical | Politely insist on a clinical rep; it protects their timeline. |
| Customer keeps emailing the AE | Redirect every thread to you, warmly, both sides. |
1.1 · PURPOSE AND POSITION IN THE PROCESS
Following contract execution, an initial meeting is conducted with the customer's support staff. Depending on the facility, participants may include an operations representative, a general manager or administrator, and/or a clinical representative such as a nurse.
The kickoff is Phase 01 of the ten-phase implementation process. Nothing else can start before it: the site survey (Phase 02) is scheduled here, the stakeholders who will own the SKU list (Phase 03) and logistics (Phase 05) are identified here, and the communication structure that carries the whole deployment is agreed here. A weak kickoff does not fail loudly — it fails three phases later, as missing data owners, surprise stakeholders, and an unscheduled survey.
1.2 · THE HANDOFF — SALES TO OPERATIONS
- The Sales team provides Operations with a designated contact person from the customer's support team.
- Operations schedules an introductory call or meeting with the support team — the agenda goes in the invite.
- From the kickoff onward, Operations runs the deployment on a single communication channel.
Why one designated contact
Deployments die in diffuse communication. A single named contact means every request has one door and every decision has an owner on the customer's side. Without it, the SKU list arrives from one person, room access is granted by another, and nobody feels responsible when a date slips. More stakeholders will attend the kickoff — but the designated contact is who Operations chases, and who chases on Operations' behalf.
Why Operations schedules — not Sales
If Sales keeps running communications after contract execution, the deployment fights two-channel chaos: the account executive answers customer questions generously, and Operations inherits promises it never made. The kickoff is where the customer learns, implicitly and explicitly, that Operations is now the voice of Autonomi.
1.3 · WHO IS IN THE ROOM
| PARTICIPANT | BRINGS | RISK IF ABSENT |
|---|---|---|
| Operations representative | Day-to-day operational knowledge; usually the designated contact. | No anchor for follow-ups; requests float unowned. |
| GM / administrator | Authority over budget, access, and logistics — can say yes to dates. | Nothing agreed is binding; every decision needs a second meeting. |
| Clinical representative (nurse) | How supplies are actually used, room by room, shift by shift. | Scope re-litigated at the planogram — or after go-live, as poor adoption. |
Seniority is not knowledge: the GM knows the contract; clinical staff know the workflows the room must serve. If the GM offers to "speak for the clinical side," politely insist on a clinical representative and frame it as protecting the GM's own timeline — which is exactly what it does.
1.4 · THE AGENDA, ANNOTATED
The nine items below can be copied directly into the calendar invite. Items 1–7 build alignment; item 8 is the commitment the meeting exists to produce; item 9 locks the channel.
| AGENDA ITEM | WHAT GOOD LOOKS LIKE |
|---|---|
| 1 · System overview | Five minutes, demo-flavored, jargon-free. The clinical rep should leave able to describe the smart room to a colleague. |
| 2 · Autonomi personnel & roles | The customer knows who does what — and that Operations, not Sales, is the voice from here on. |
| 3 · Customer personnel & roles | Confirm the designated contact in front of everyone. Note names for the Phase 07 user list. |
| 4 · Scope confirmation | Rooms, departments, and components restated aloud and agreed. Surprises surface now, not at the survey. |
| 5 · Timeline & milestones | The ten-phase arc at a glance, with dependencies named: survey gates planning; customer logistics gate installation. |
| 6 · Roles & points of contact | Each side leaves with named owners: data (SKU list), facilities (electrical/LAN), access (users), scheduling. |
| 7 · Survey prerequisites | Access to all deployment areas confirmed as arrangeable; escort/badge requirements identified. |
| 8 · Schedule the site survey | A date on the calendar — or a held date with a confirm-by deadline. This is the exit condition of the meeting. |
| 9 · Comms cadence & next steps | Weekly cadence (or agreed rhythm), one channel, through the designated contact and the Autonomi lead. |
1.5 · EXIT CRITERIA — DO NOT LEAVE WITHOUT
Site survey scheduled — or a held date with a hard confirm-by deadline ("I'll hold next Thursday; confirm by Friday or we take the following Tuesday").
Points of contact named on both sides — the designated customer contact and the Autonomi lead.
Communication cadence agreed — one channel, through Operations.
Scope confirmed aloud — rooms, departments, components, with objections surfaced.
Of these, the survey date is the one that cannot slip: the site survey gates room planning, SKU planning, logistics, and ultimately the installation date. SKU requirements can follow by email tomorrow; an install date promised before the survey is a guess Operations will be held to.
1.6 · FAILURE MODES AND RECOVERY
| TRAP | WHY IT HAPPENS | THE MOVE |
|---|---|---|
| "We'll get back to you on dates" | Polite meetings resist forcing decisions; silence then eats two weeks. | Inside the meeting: hold a specific date, set a confirm-by deadline, offer a fallback. Their silence now produces a schedule, not a stall. |
| GM speaks for the clinical side | Seniority is mistaken for knowledge; adding attendees feels like friction. | Politely insist: thirty minutes of a nurse's time now saves planogram rework later. Frame as protecting the GM's timeline. |
| Customer keeps emailing the AE | The AE has the relationship and answers generously. | Quiet and two-sided: the AE redirects every thread to Operations; Operations restates the channel at the next touchpoint. No drama. |
1.7 · COMPETENCY SIGN-OFF
Signed by the trainer against real deployment work — shadowed or performed — not against this page.
Ran (or co-ran) a kickoff using the nine-item agenda, with all three customer perspectives present
Left a kickoff with the site survey scheduled or deadline-locked
Established and defended the single communication channel
Can explain the Sales→Ops handoff and the role of the designated contact in their own words
1.8 · REFERENCES
OPS-WORKFLOW-2026 V1.0 — Autonomi Operations Implementation Workflow, Phase 01
Module 01 and its cheat sheet — the Learn and Cheat sheet tabs of this page
Next chapter · Phase 02 — Site Survey & Room Planning (on-site)
Site Survey & Room Planning
RIVERSIDE STATEALL AREAS WALKEDINFRASTRUCTURE CHECKEDACCESS PLANNEDDEPLOYMENT PLAN
MODULE 02 · ~15 MIN · ON-SITE
You're standing in Riverside's supply room. Everything you miss today, you pay for on install day.
The survey is where the plan meets the building. You map every deployment area, check power, network and mounting, and settle how the door locks — then leave with a room list nobody can dispute.
YOU'RE ON THE HOOK
The GM walks you to the main supply room and says: "This is it — the other two rooms are basically the same, you can just copy this one."
You have the morning booked for the survey. What do you do?
✓ RIGHTEvery deployment area gets surveyed and documented — no exceptions. Rooms that are "basically the same" differ in the one dimension that matters: a column, a shorter wall, a different door, one power outlet instead of two. You map it now or you discover it with a truck full of hardware on install day.
✗ THAT'S HOW INSTALL DAY BREAKSCopying a room you didn't measure means trusting that three rooms are identical — they never are. The survey exists precisely to catch the differences. Walk all three yourself.
✗ PHOTOS AREN'T A SURVEYA photo doesn't give you wall type, outlet count, port location, or ceiling height — the things mounting and cabling depend on. Survey every area to the same standard.
WHAT A SURVEY COVERS
Seven things you leave the building knowing.
1Review the facility layout & the areas marked for deployment
2Create or validate floor & room layouts in Space Planning Software
3Confirm exactly which rooms are in scope
4Assess infrastructure: power, network, mounting
5Plan the access-control method — consult a locksmith
6Validate room configurations against operational workflows
7Identify constraints, risks & dependencies
A tape measure gives you numbers; Space Planning Software (Riverside is mapped in floorplanner.com) gives you a shared, reviewable model everyone plans against. The planogram, the cabinet placement, and the installers all read from the same layout. A measurement in your notebook helps you; a validated floor plan in the system helps the whole deployment — and survives the day you're out sick.
THE INFRASTRUCTURE TRIAD
Three systems the room has to give you.
PowerDedicated circuit and outlet placement where the cabinet and units will sit — not a shared break-room circuit.CAPTURE: OUTLET LOCATIONS · CIRCUIT · LOAD
NetworkLAN/port availability and the drop location relative to the cabinet mount.CAPTURE: PORT LOCATION · DISTANCE TO CABINET
MountingWall type, load capacity, and obstructions where shelves and screens attach.CAPTURE: WALL TYPE · CEILING · CLEARANCES
Shelves, trays, and screens hang on the wall and carry weight. Drywall over steel studs, masonry, and hollow partition behave completely differently under load — the wrong anchor pulls out. If you can't confirm wall or ceiling type on the day, it becomes an open action item with an owner, never a guess: a mount that fails is a safety issue in a room with patients.
ACCESS CONTROL
The door is part of the system.
1Decide the access-control method for the room during the survey
2Consult a locksmith on compatibility with the existing door & hardware
3Map it to the roles: yellow key for consumers, blue fob for suppliers
Access control touches the customer's physical door — the one thing you can't reorder overnight. A door that won't take the planned hardware, a fire-code constraint, a lock that needs replacing: found at the survey, it's a line item in the customer's Phase 05 prep. Found on install day, it's a room you can't secure and a system you can't hand over.
TRY IT
The supply room's only outlet is a single 15-amp circuit already shared with a break-room fridge. What goes in the survey report?
✓ RIGHTThe survey's job is to turn every gap into a documented action the customer completes before delivery. A shared 15-amp circuit is a gap; naming it now puts a dedicated circuit into their pre-install checklist, where the site survey documentation says it belongs.
✗ NOT QUITEHoping it's fine, or calling it someone else's problem, is how install day stalls. The survey documents the gap and assigns it: the customer installs electrical infrastructure per the survey before delivery. Flag it, own the follow-through.
CHECK 1 OF 3
The GM asks you to skip the third room — "it's a closet we barely use" — to wrap the survey faster.
✓ RIGHTScope is confirmed at the survey, room by room. An in-scope room you didn't document is a fight waiting to happen: was it in the deal? does it need hardware? Survey it, or get written confirmation it's out of scope — never assume.
✗ NOT QUITE"Assumed" and "survey it later" are how scope slips and install day runs long. If the room is in the deployment, it gets the full survey now; if it's truly out, get that in writing. No undocumented rooms.
CHECK 2 OF 3
The room's only network port is 40 ft from where the cabinet must mount for the planogram to work.
✓ RIGHTNetwork ports are installed per the site survey documentation — that's a customer pre-install task. Document the required drop location now and it gets built before delivery. The cabinet stays where the planogram needs it.
✗ NOT QUITEA floor-run cable in a clinical space is a trip hazard and a no; moving the cabinet breaks the planogram you'll build in Phase 04. The survey's answer is to specify the network drop so the customer installs it as Phase 05 prep.
CHECK 3 OF 3
Mid-survey you realize you can't confirm the ceiling type for mounting without facilities, and they've left for the day.
✓ RIGHTEvery unknown leaves the survey as an action item with an owner and a due date before install. Mounting is load-bearing in a room with patients — an assumed ceiling that's wrong is a failed mount. Name the gap, assign it, date it.
✗ NOT QUITEGuessing a load-bearing surface or punting it to installers is how a mount fails in a live clinical room. The survey output includes action items, owners, and timelines — this is one: facilities confirms ceiling type before install.
🥉
Module 02 complete.
Phase output: finalized room list & deployment plan · documented floor/room layouts · install requirements & facility prep confirmed · action items with owners & due dates.
Next · Module 03 — SKU List & Shelf Planning.
WHAT THE SURVEY PRODUCES
A finalized room list and deployment plan. On-site assessment of every deployment area, with floor and room layouts mapped in Space Planning Software (floorplanner.com). No room left undocumented; every gap becomes a dated action item.
THE INFRASTRUCTURE TRIAD
| SYSTEM | CAPTURE |
|---|---|
| Power | Outlet locations, dedicated circuit, load — not a shared circuit. |
| Network | LAN/port availability and drop location vs. cabinet mount. |
| Mounting | Wall type, ceiling, load capacity, obstructions and clearances. |
SURVEY SCOPE · WALK THE LIST
Facility layout & deployment areas reviewed
Floor/room layouts created or validated in Space Planning Software
Rooms in scope confirmed — every one, no assumptions
Infrastructure assessed: power, network, mounting
Access-control method planned & locksmith consulted
Room configs validated against workflows
Constraints, risks & dependencies identified
ACCESS CONTROL
The door is part of the system. Decide the method on-site and consult a locksmith on compatibility — yellow key for consumers, blue fob for suppliers. A door problem found on install day is a room you can't secure.
DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT
Finalized room list — every deployment area documented
Floor/room layouts captured in Space Planning Software
Every gap written as an action item with an owner & due-before-install date
Access-control plan with locksmith input
TRAPS
| TRAP | THE MOVE |
|---|---|
| "The other rooms are basically the same" | Walk and map every area yourself, to the same standard. |
| Guessing infrastructure (power/port/ceiling) | Turn every unknown into a dated action item with an owner. |
| Deferring the door to install day | Plan access control + locksmith at the survey; it's customer prep. |
2.1 · PURPOSE AND POSITION IN THE PROCESS
Following the initial support-team meeting, an on-site survey is conducted to assess the facility's physical environment and confirm room-level requirements. The survey includes detailed room planning using Space Planning Software to accurately map the facility layout and support system design.
The survey is the gate the whole timeline waits behind: SKU and shelf planning (Phase 03), the planogram (Phase 04), and customer logistics (Phase 05) all build on the finalized room list and deployment plan produced here. Its output is only as good as its completeness — an area skipped or an unknown left as a guess resurfaces on install day at maximum cost.
2.2 · PROCESS & OBJECTIVES
- Operations schedules and conducts an on-site survey with the customer's designated contacts.
- The survey is performed at the facility and requires access to all areas included in the deployment.
- Floor and room layouts are documented in Space Planning Software (Riverside: floorplanner.com).
Reference: Site Survey Form · floorplanner.com.
2.3 · SURVEY & PLANNING SCOPE
| AREA | WHAT YOU CONFIRM |
|---|---|
| Facility layout | Review of the layout and the designated areas for system deployment. |
| Floor / room layouts | Creation or validation of layouts in Space Planning Software. |
| Rooms in scope | Identification and confirmation of every room included — no assumptions, no skipped "closets." |
| Infrastructure | Power, network access, and mounting considerations assessed. |
| Access control | Access-control method planned; locksmith consulted on compatibility. |
| Workflows | Room configurations validated against operational workflows. |
| Constraints | Potential constraints, risks, or dependencies identified. |
2.4 · THE INFRASTRUCTURE TRIAD
Three building systems determine whether the plan is installable. Each is captured concretely, and any unknown becomes an action item — never a guess.
| SYSTEM | WHAT TO CAPTURE | WHY IT BITES LATER |
|---|---|---|
| Power | Outlet placement, a dedicated circuit, and load — not a shared break-room circuit. | A shared or distant circuit stalls power-up on install day. |
| Network | LAN/port availability and the drop location relative to the cabinet mount. | A port 40 ft away means a floor-run cable or a broken planogram. |
| Mounting | Wall type, ceiling type, load capacity, obstructions and clearances. | A wrong-anchor mount fails under load — a safety issue with patients present. |
2.5 · ACCESS CONTROL & THE LOCKSMITH
The room's door is part of the system. The access-control method is decided during the survey, with a locksmith consulted on compatibility with the existing door and hardware. Access maps to the role model: yellow key for consumers who retrieve supplies, blue fob for suppliers who replenish. A door constraint discovered at the survey is a customer pre-install task; discovered on install day, it is a room that cannot be secured or handed over.
2.6 · OUTCOMES
Finalized room list and room deployment plan.
Documented floor and room layouts to support installation and configuration.
Confirmation of installation requirements and any required facility preparations.
Identification of action items, owners, and timelines prior to installation.
2.7 · FAILURE MODES AND RECOVERY
| TRAP | WHY IT HAPPENS | THE MOVE |
|---|---|---|
| "The other rooms are basically the same" | Time pressure and a confident host make copying feel safe. | Walk and map every deployment area yourself, to the same standard. Rooms differ in the one dimension that matters. |
| Guessing infrastructure | The right person (facilities/electrician) isn't on-site to confirm. | Log every unknown as an action item with an owner and a due-before-install date. Never ship a guess for a load-bearing or electrical fact. |
| Deferring the door to install day | Access control feels like a detail next to the build. | Plan access control and consult the locksmith at the survey — it's the one thing you can't reorder overnight. |
2.8 · COMPETENCY SIGN-OFF
Signed by the trainer against real deployment work — shadowed or performed — not against this page.
Surveyed every deployment area on-site and documented layouts in Space Planning Software
Assessed power, network, and mounting for each room and captured concrete values
Planned access control and identified when a locksmith consult is required
Turned every unknown into an action item with an owner and a due-before-install date
Produced a finalized room list and deployment plan
2.9 · REFERENCES
OPS-WORKFLOW-2026 V1.0 — Autonomi Operations Implementation Workflow, Phase 02
Site Survey Form · Space Planning Software (floorplanner.com)
Next chapter · Phase 03 — SKU List & Shelf Planning
SKU List & Shelf Planning
RIVERSIDE STATEFIELDS VALIDATEDCELLS SIZEDTRAYS CALCULATEDLIST FROZEN
MODULE 03 · ~15 MIN
One customer spreadsheet decides every shelf, tray, and cell in the room.
Everything physical downstream is calculated from the SKU list. This is the phase where ops earns — or loses — the timeline. Back to Riverside: install is eight days out.
YOU'RE ON THE HOOK
Riverside's SKU list finally lands — 300 rows. But 12 have no min/max, and 6 have no SKU code. Install is in 8 days.
What do you do in the next hour?
✓ RIGHT — THIS IS THE JOBData accuracy is the customer's responsibility; keep it there. Naming the exact rows makes the fix easy, the deadline protects your planning window, and flagging risk early means nobody is surprised later.
✗ TEMPTING — AND HOW TIMELINES DIEYou just took ownership of the customer's data. When your guessed min/max is wrong, the trays are wrong — and it's now your error. Never guess inventory levels. Bounce it back today.
✗ "FLEXIBLE SPACE" ISN'T A PLANShelf count and tray sizes are calculated, not padded. 18 unknown SKUs could need one tray or a full shelf — and install week is the most expensive time to find out. Force the fix now.
THE RULE
A SKU list is complete when it has five fields.
1Product name
2Product SKU code
3Min level
4Max level
5Department — only when a room is shared by multiple departments
Because whoever fixes the data owns the data. These fields drive physical calculations — min/max sets tray count, the SKU code retrieves product dimensions. If ops guesses a value and the tray comes out wrong, the error transfers from customer to Autonomi, along with the cost of re-cutting trays on install week. Bouncing it back keeps ownership where the contract puts it: the customer provides accurate data; ops validates it.
SIZING A CELL
Three methods. Trust them in this order.
1 · DimensionsRecommended items-per-cell × box or item dimensions = space required. Ground truth.PREFERRED — USE WHENEVER DIMENSIONS EXIST
2 · ReferenceLook the product up in the Autonomi system; reuse a calculation from another account.RELIABLE — VERIFIED BY A REAL DEPLOYMENT
3 · AI assistChatGPT or Claude with cell sizes, full description, and manufacturer.LAST RESORT — NEVER SHIP WITHOUT A SANITY CHECK
The methods are ranked by how the number was verified. Dimensions are physical fact. A reference already survived a real deployment — someone stocked that tray and it worked. An AI estimate has survived nothing: it's a plausible guess about box sizes. A cell 2 cm too small doesn't fail on your screen — it fails on install day, with the product physically not fitting. Speed is worthless if the room has to be re-cut.
MIN vs MAX
One number shapes steel. The other shapes behavior.
MAXThe ceiling. Right after replenishment every unit up to max is physically present — so tray capacity must cover the max. Max drives the tray count.
MINA trigger, not a size. When on-hand hits min, the system flags the SKU and Suppliers replenish. Min drives timing, not space.
e.g.Speculum, min 4 / max 20, tray holds 8 → 20 ÷ 8, round up = 3 trays. Sizing to min (4) would overflow on the first restock.
Because the shelf has to hold the room's fullest moment, not its emptiest. Max is when every unit is present and needs a slot; min is just the level that says "reorder now." Size trays to min and every replenishment overflows the cell. One number shapes the steel you install; the other shapes the behavior of the people restocking it.
TRY IT
The list is approved and frozen. Two weeks before install, the customer adds 40 "forgotten" SKUs.
✓ RIGHTThe freeze isn't a wall, it's a gate. Changes re-enter through impact assessment — and the customer decides with the real cost in front of them. Quiet absorption hides the cost; flat refusal burns the relationship.
✗ NOT QUITEThe freeze is a gate, not a wall. 40 SKUs may shift shelf count, tray sizes, even the install date — the move is a structured impact assessment the customer signs off on.
CHECK 1 OF 3
A product has no dimensions on file, but you find it was planned for another account last quarter. The GM says "just ask ChatGPT, it's faster."
✓ RIGHTMethod 2 (reference) outranks Method 3 (AI). Real planning data from another account was verified by an actual deployment. AI is the last resort — and even then it gets a sanity check.
✗ NOT QUITEThe hierarchy is dimensions → reference → AI. Verified data from another account exists, so it wins. Averaging a verified number with an unverified guess only degrades the verified one.
CHECK 2 OF 3
The Department field is blank on every row of an otherwise perfect SKU list. When is that a problem?
✓ RIGHTDepartment is conditionally required: it matters exactly when more than one department uses the same room, because it determines how the room is segmented. Single-department rooms don't need it.
✗ NOT QUITEDepartment is the one conditional field — required only when departments share a room. Blanket rejection wastes a cycle; ignoring it in a shared room breaks the planogram.
CHECK 3 OF 3
A row on the otherwise-clean list lists a max of 2,000 boxes of gauze for a small clinic. Obvious typo.
✓ RIGHTValidation isn't just blank fields — it's values that can't be true. A max of 2,000 would consume shelves the room doesn't have. You don't fix it yourself (that's guessing); you bounce it as a data-quality check, same as a missing field.
✗ NOT QUITESizing to 2,000 eats the whole room; capping it yourself means you now own a number you invented. Validation includes implausible values — flag it back to the customer to correct, don't guess.
🥉
Module 03 complete.
Phase output: approved SKU list for deployment · finalized shelf & tray configuration · storage design confirmed against inventory levels.
Next · Module 04 — Planogram Planning.
THE FIVE REQUIRED FIELDS
A SKU list is complete only with: product name · SKU code · min level · max level, plus department when a room is shared. Anything less goes back — no guessing.
SIZING A CELL · IN ORDER OF TRUST
| METHOD | WHEN |
|---|---|
| 1 · Dimensions | Preferred — items-per-cell × box size. Use whenever dimensions exist. |
| 2 · Reference | Reliable — reuse a calculation from another account in the system. |
| 3 · AI assist | Last resort — never ship without a sanity check. |
MIN vs MAX
Max shapes steel; min shapes behavior. Tray capacity must cover the max (max ÷ units-per-tray, round up). Min is the reorder trigger, not a size.
DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT
Approved SKU list — all 5 fields, validated, no implausible values
Finalized shelf & tray configuration
Written confirmation the storage design supports operations — then freeze the list
TRAPS
| TRAP | THE MOVE |
|---|---|
| Accepting an incomplete list "to save time" | Bounce it same-day with exact rows named; data accuracy is the customer's. |
| Treating AI-assist as authoritative | It's method 3 of 3 — sanity-check every AI-sized cell. |
| Not locking the list after approval | State the freeze in writing; late changes shift config, timeline, scope. |
3.1 · PURPOSE AND POSITION IN THE PROCESS
After the room layout and space planning are complete, the customer's SKU list is collected to plan the shelf configuration. The SKU list determines the number of shelves, tray sizes, and the overall storage configuration — every physical decision downstream is calculated from it.
This is the phase where the timeline is most exposed to data quality. A late or inaccurate list shifts shelf configuration, tray sizing, and the install date. Ops validates; the customer owns accuracy.
3.2 · THE FIVE REQUIRED FIELDS
At a minimum, the SKU list must include the following, used to retrieve product dimensions and calculate storage capacity.
| FIELD | WHY IT'S NEEDED |
|---|---|
| Product name | Human identification of the item. |
| Product SKU | Unique code used to retrieve dimensions and reference data. |
| Min level | Reorder trigger — when on-hand hits it, replenishment is flagged. |
| Max level | Physical ceiling — tray capacity must cover it. |
| Department | Conditional — only when multiple departments share one room; drives in-room segmentation. |
3.3 · PLANNING SCOPE
Determine the required shelf count.
Determine tray sizes based on product dimensions.
Calculate the number of trays per SKU from min/max levels.
Validate that shelf and tray configuration aligns with the approved room layout (Phase 02).
3.4 · SIZING A CELL — THREE METHODS
The methods are ranked by how the number was verified. Use the highest available; never let a lower method override a higher one.
| METHOD | HOW | TRUST |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Dimensions | Recommended items-per-cell × box or item dimensions → space required. | Ground truth. Preferred. |
| 2 · Reference | Look the product up in the Autonomi system; if planned for another account, reuse that data. | Verified by a real deployment. |
| 3 · AI assist | ChatGPT or Claude with cell sizes, full product description, and manufacturer. | Unverified — last resort, always sanity-checked. |
3.5 · MIN, MAX, AND PHYSICAL CAPACITY
The min level is an operational trigger: when on-hand count reaches min, the SKU is flagged for replenishment and Suppliers see it in their queue. The max level is a physical commitment: tray capacity must cover it entirely, because immediately after replenishment every unit up to max is present in the cell. Sizing to anything less than max guarantees overflow on the first restock. Worked example: min 4 / max 20, a tray holds 8 → ⌈20 ÷ 8⌉ = 3 trays.
3.6 · DATA OWNERSHIP
The customer is responsible for providing an accurate and complete SKU list, including correct identifiers and min/max levels. Ops validates — blank fields and implausible values (a max of 2,000 gauze boxes for a small clinic) are bounced back the same day, with the exact rows named. Ops never fills gaps or "fixes" values itself; doing so transfers ownership of the error. Changes after approval may impact shelf configuration, timelines, and deployment scope.
3.7 · OUTCOMES
Approved SKU list for deployment.
Finalized shelf and tray configuration.
Confirmation that the storage design supports operational requirements and inventory levels — then the list is frozen.
3.8 · FAILURE MODES AND RECOVERY
| TRAP | WHY IT HAPPENS | THE MOVE |
|---|---|---|
| Accepting an incomplete list | Deadline pressure makes "fix it later" tempting. | Bounce it same-day with exact rows named. Data accuracy is the customer's responsibility. |
| AI-assist treated as authoritative | It's fast and sounds confident. | It's method 3 of 3. Sanity-check every AI-sized cell against dimensions or a reference. |
| List not frozen after approval | Nobody stated the freeze, so the customer treats the list as live. | State the freeze in writing and repeat it. Post-freeze changes go through impact assessment. |
3.9 · COMPETENCY SIGN-OFF
Signed by the trainer against real deployment work — shadowed or performed — not against this page.
Requested a SKU list with all 5 fields and a schedule-safe due date
Validated a real list and correctly bounced blank fields and implausible values — same day
Sized a cell with Method 1 and cross-checked with Method 2
Calculated trays per SKU from max and can explain why not min
Can explain the data-freeze rule to a customer in their own words
3.10 · REFERENCES
OPS-WORKFLOW-2026 V1.0 — Autonomi Operations Implementation Workflow, Phase 03
Baseline Lists GYN & UCPCP.xlsx (example SKU list) · Data Template
Next chapter · Phase 04 — Planogram Planning