Operations and process
Surface reads the event history of the work while AI interviews run across every team that touches it. You see the process as people describe it and as the systems recorded it, side by side.
Fig. 10, The aqueduct: A stone aqueduct of two tiers of arches crossing a valley toward the sea, water visible in its channel.
What you’re up against
Every team knows its own piece. The map on the wall shows a process nobody quite follows.
Sales points at the warehouse, the warehouse points at sales, and finance waits for both.
Beneath the process
Ask each team how an order becomes an invoice and you hear the version drawn here. Move the lens along it to see the same orders as the event history recorded them.
01Proof of delivery attached
02Ready to invoice
03Rush orders
Illustrative. Orders, dates and figures are invented.
One investigation
Follow one investigation from a sentence in an interview to a decision. The accounts and records are invented. The method is how Surface works.
01 What people said
“The delivery is done. Then we spend days chasing the paperwork.”
02 What the systems recorded
| Event | Recorded | Case |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery confirmed | Mon 09:20 | ORD-018 |
| Proof of delivery attached | Wed 14:10 | ORD-018 |
| Invoice ready | Wed 14:35 | ORD-018 |
| Invoice issued | Wed 15:05 | ORD-018 |
53 h between delivery and the paperwork that lets finance invoice
The wait sits before the order is ready to invoice. Once the paperwork arrives, finance invoices within the hour.
One case, traced across the recorded handoff. A time gap shows where to investigate; it does not establish the cause on its own.
03 A second account
“Once we have the customer reference and proof of delivery, we can issue it. Usually we’re waiting for one of those.”
“Once we have the customer reference and proof of delivery, we can issue it. Usually we’re waiting for one of those.”
A second account supports investigating the handoff. Check additional cases and exceptions before treating the explanation as established.
04 The procedure
Operations: done when
Finance: ready when
Two of finance’s three criteria are nobody’s job yet
The two teams describe different completion criteria.
05 The finding
Finding for reviewDifferent teams use different completion criteria. An order can be delivered without the information needed to invoice it.
Ruled outFinance capacity. Once the paperwork arrives, the invoice goes out within the hour, at month end too.
06 The decision
Define the fields finance needs at delivery, and name who checks them.
An illustrative investigation. Accounts and records are invented.
Who we talk to, what we read
Surface talks to
Surface reads
In the pilot, Surface reads exports of the systems you already keep. A few months of events with dates and a case reference is usually enough. We check what you have in the first call.
What you come away with
Each finding sets what people said beside what the event history recorded and what the procedure says, names the explanation it ruled out, and points to a decision with an owner.
Ruled outFinance capacity. Once the paperwork arrives, the invoice goes out within the hour.
Before we begin
It reads the same kind of event history, and it hears from the people who do the work, so a wait comes with its explanation.
A few months of events with dates and a case reference, usually. We check what you have in the first call.
Exports of the events for the process in question, and any trackers the teams keep beside them. In the pilot, we work through the exports with you.
A question is enough to begin. The evidence may support it, change it, or point to a different question.
The offer
We agree one question about one process with you, interview up to ten of your people by voice or text, read the records that go with it, and take you through a brief that shows the evidence for every finding.
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