Avenue Air Depot
Modernizing HVAC manufacturing workflows to resolve inefficient order processing and scale operations
A service design approach to translating analog processes into a digital ecosystem to eliminate manual bottlenecks
Context
Faced with surging market demand and industry-wide steel shortages, a paper-based sheet metal manufacturer reached its operational breaking point with its antiquated, manual workflows. To adapt and capitalize on this market opportunity, its new retail subsidiary, Avenue Air Depot, aimed to monetize sitting inventory through a digital storefront, transitioning from a traditional invoicing process to a modern point-of-sale solution. The goal was multi-pronged: introduce a streamlined checkout experience, service B2B and B2C customers more effectively, and increase product awareness.
Role
I collaborated directly with the owner, plant manager, office manager, and staff to understand the intricacies of the sheet metal industry and their specific manual workflows. I led the overarching service design, focusing on implementing practical solutions on the warehouse floor.
Scope
Digital strategy, process design, on-site ethnographic research (staff shadowing and interviews), rapid solution testing, and change management.
The guiding question
How might we make ordering and payment more efficient without introducing too much friction for the workers who physically fabricate, pack, and deliver the goods?
01 / Problem
Demanding, manual workflows hindered capacity to meet rising order volumes and drained resources from high-value custom fabrication jobs
The parent company's growth was constrained by a highly manual intake process. Because there was no online catalog or inventory visibility, staff had to answer many phone calls about inventory and handle walk-ins just to confirm availability. Answering these queries and processing small, routine stock orders required immense administrative effort, which ultimately drained valuable time and resources away from the company's core revenue driver: managing large-scale custom fabrication.
Manual reconciliation bottlenecked cash flow
Signed packing slips had to be physically returned to the office, manually matched to the quote and work order, and scanned before an invoice could go out. This analog reconciliation severely delayed billing and revenue collection.
Unstructured data stalled order processing
Handwritten specs with inconsistent part names turned order entry into a manual investigation. An administrative staff member had to repeatedly interrupt the plant manager to decipher handwriting and clarify what the customer actually meant.
Basic queries drained capacity
Customers had no self-serve way to browse available products. As a result, managing simple stock orders required heavy manual intervention, actively competing with the bandwidth required for complex, high-value made-to-order jobs.
02 / Research
Mapping the chaos of mixed workflows
I shadowed back-office staff to map how orders actually moved from request to revenue. I quickly discovered that two fundamentally different product streams—standard stock items and Made-to-Order (MTO) fabrications—were entangled in the same manual pipeline.
Because custom sketches, handwritten dimensions, and simple stock requests all arrived in different formats, the office manager spent hours manually deciphering mixed inputs to assemble a single shared order. Mapping this workflow revealed many distinct points of failure where information lost its connection. Data began digitally, devolved into a working paper document on the shop floor, and ultimately required manual digital re-entry just to get paid.
03 / Testing
Testing assumptions on the warehouse floor
Experiment 1: Capturing standardized inputs via stock-order worksheets
Conversations with the plant and office manager revealed a severe administrative backlog caused by routine stock orders. Processing these orders was highly manual; the office manager spent hours deciphering handwriting and trying to match inconsistent customer terminology to the actual inventory, which led to constantly interrupting the plant manager for clarification.
To address this, I tested a simple, low-tech solution first by creating stock order forms. This required emailing customers our stock list, which had the added benefit of making them much more aware of our available product range.
What we tested
Customers were directed to submit stock orders using worksheets with predefined parts, dimensions, and quantity fields. The forms gave customers a reference for what they could request and gave staff a consistent format to work from.
What we observed
The stock-order worksheets reduced manual workload by 90%. Standardized parts, dimensions, and quantities gave staff clearer customer requests and a consistent format to process, replacing the time-consuming work of deciphering handwriting and interpreting inconsistent terminology.
What changed
We coached customers through the worksheet and reinforced the method when they returned to calls or informal emails. Helping customers learn and consistently use the form became part of the ordering process.
Experiment 2: Tablets for digital fulfillment records
Ethnographic research revealed a severe administrative backlog in order and invoice processing. As an interim solution, I tested whether equipping shippers, receivers, and delivery drivers with tablets could keep the record digital through fulfillment. The goal was to capture digital checks and signatures to remove the need to collect and scan paper before billing.
What we tested
Staff used tablets to reference packing slips, verify the final delivery against the quoted materials, and capture customer signatures.
What we observed
Waking the tablet, finding the right job order, and navigating the interface added steps that slowed workers down. Adoption was poor because the tablet increased friction for their immediate tasks and required a level of technical literacy that many workers didn't have.
What changed
We kept paper packing slips but restructured the analog handoff to speed up invoicing. Rather than dumping raw paperwork onto back-office staff, we required delivery drivers to match packing slips to their work orders before handing it in.
04 / Alternatives
Choosing which parts of the workflow to digitize
Testing interim solutions clarified the physical constraints of the business. While some tools fixed isolated bottlenecks without solving the broader system, others actively failed on the warehouse floor. Together, these outcomes taught us exactly where to draw the boundary around automation.
Exploration & process alternatives
A static digital catalog vs. a full e-commerce checkout
- Alternative
- Replace chaotic handwritten lists and emailed PDF worksheets by simply posting the stock catalog and digital forms on a website. Instead of emailing customers the stock list, we would direct them to the site to view inventory and submit their requests.
- Design decision
- Bypass the static website approach and build a full checkout experience. Simply moving a non-interactive stock form online would just change how the customer found the form; it would still require them to email the order to the back office, leaving the legacy manual workflow completely intact.
- Tradeoff
- A static online catalog would make inventory more visible and accessible, giving customers a standard vocabulary. However, clearer digital inputs do not remove manual data re-entry or the invoice lag.
Separate retail checkout from commercial purchasing
- Alternative
- Send every buyer through a standard retail checkout to collect payment immediately and avoid later invoicing.
- Design decision
- Support quick guest checkout for retail purchases and manual verification for larger commercial accounts, with access to wholesale pricing and alternative payment terms.
- Tradeoff
- Large B2B orders would make credit card fees costly, while established contractors expected payment terms. Segmentation would balance a faster checkout with margins and buying habits, even as broader pricing and account features stayed outside the initial scope.
Pair e-commerce with a physical storefront
- Alternative
- Open a traditional retail store in addition to the warehouse, relying on physical shelf browsing and standard point-of-sale (POS) checkout to attract retail customers.
- Design decision
- Integrate the physical space with the e-commerce experience. Walk-in customers would use in-store tablets to browse the digital catalog, check out, and immediately pick up materials on-site.
- Tradeoff
- The physical store would attract retail traffic and provide a space to actively coach customers on the new digital catalog, but it would add the operational overhead of staffing a counter and training warehouse staff.
05 / Design + Validation
Translating analog habits into a streamlined e‑commerce experience
To shift customers away from email and phone orders, our digital strategy centered on building product awareness through a centralized website.
To validate this approach, I tested the website prototype with five industry users, including both external customers and internal employees. Their feedback was definitive: they loved the idea of ordering “like a catalog,” preferring an interface that mirrored the physical reference books they were already accustomed to. This insight directly shaped our ordering model. I designed the e-commerce interface to mirror the familiar parts-ordering experience, bringing product photos, recognizable categories, and quantities for multiple variants together on one product page.
06 / Pilot
Bridging the digital checkout and the physical counter
To drive digital adoption, we anchored the new service proposition directly into the physical environment via an “order online, pick up in-store” model. This strategy bridged an unfamiliar digital workflow with a familiar, trusted physical destination.
To further merge the two experiences, we transformed the physical counter into a digital onboarding touchpoint. An in-store tablet would allow walk-in customers to explore the new digital catalog alongside physical product displays, gently introducing them to the self-serve model during their visit.
07 / Reflections
Lessons from defining the boundaries of automation
Because my engagement ended as the physical storefront opened, I couldn't observe how walk-in customers interacted with the in-store tablets. In hindsight, launching the e-commerce platform and the physical storefront simultaneously introduced too many variables at once. An organizational shift of this magnitude required massive upfront investment, extensive staff training, and cross-functional alignment. A leaner approach would have isolated these risks. By validating the digital e-commerce pilot first, we could have refined our backend operations before committing the time and capital required to open a staffed retail counter.
The friction of behavioral change
The stock-order worksheets showed how difficult it could be to change familiar ordering habits. Some customers adopted the forms easily; others needed ongoing coaching to move away from phone calls, loose email descriptions, and handwritten specs.
The limits of forced digitization
The warehouse tablet trial proved that a digital solution can be correct in theory but impractical in context. Automation is only valuable if it respects the physical realities of the environment.
“Automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.”
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