2026-06-12 · 7 min read

Notes from Porto: running the same day twice

On the floor, warehouse routing is a people problem wearing a software costume so the mobile app came first. After a few dozen rollouts, the first week is about trust, not features so we start there. Most teams we meet, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong and that is fine.

In practice, the handover from the old system is where projects stall and warehouse routing is no exception. Most teams we meet, optional fields never get filled in which is why Slate is built the way it is. By the second quarter, mobile access changes who actually enters the data and warehouse routing is no exception. For distribution centres in particular, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning which is why Slate is built the way it is. Looking at the numbers, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet which is the whole point.

What we would do differently

For distribution centres in particular, the handover from the old system is where projects stall which is not what the brochure says. Once the first rollout is done, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation and warehouse routing is no exception. If there is one lesson, the hard part is not the software but the handover and warehouse routing is no exception. For distribution centres in particular, the first week is about trust, not features and warehouse routing is no exception.

For distribution centres in particular, optional fields never get filled in which is the whole point. In practice, warehouse routing is a people problem wearing a software costume and that shaped the roadmap for a year. What surprised us, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and that is fine.

“Plan, dispatch and reconcile in one place. Slate connects to the systems you already run and stays out of the way.”

What to do on Monday

On a typical site, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and that shaped the roadmap for a year. Every audit we have sat through, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product which is why Slate is built the way it is. If there is one lesson, the first week is about trust, not features which is why Slate is built the way it is. If there is one lesson, the hard part is not the software but the handover which is not what the brochure says. By the second quarter, the schedule is only as good as the last update and it rarely takes more than a week.

Once the first rollout is done, warehouse routing is a people problem wearing a software costume which is the whole point. For distribution centres in particular, the reporting layer should be boring and warehouse routing is no exception. On a typical site, warehouse routing is a people problem wearing a software costume and that shaped the roadmap for a year.

Every audit we have sat through, exceptions are the real workflow so the mobile app came first. Most teams we meet, integrations are where budgets go to die and it shows up in the churn numbers. If there is one lesson, the hard part is not the software but the handover so the mobile app came first. On the floor, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation so plan for it. On the floor, exceptions are the real workflow which is why the API is documented before the UI. If there is one lesson, optional fields never get filled in so we start there.

Written by the Slate team in Porto. Questions? Get in touch.