Where Is Margin Quietly Leaking?

A short executive diagnostic to identify hidden margin risk across quotes, programs, and execution.

No sensitive data required. Directional insights only.

2-3 min Time to complete

4 steps Guided process

Board-ready Executive insights

Commercial Commitments

Understanding quote-to-actual risk and commitment structures

Approximately what percentage of your revenue comes from long-term customer or OEM programs (multi-year awards)?

Less than 25%

25-50%

50-75%

More than 75%

After a program is awarded, how often are quotes revisited due to changes in volume, cost, or scope?

Rarely

Occasionally

Frequently

How confident are you that the assumptions used at quote remain valid through launch?

High

Medium

Low

Volume Volatility

Identifying exposure to changing demand patterns

Forecast

Actual Divergence

Relative to the original award, how much do actual volumes typically vary during execution?

Within ±5%

±10%

±20% or more

When customer or OEM volumes change, how are those changes handled commercially today?

Informally, case by case

Through a defined commercial process

Contractually with volume bands or triggers

Change & Decision Latency

Exposing delay-driven margin leakage

On average, how long does it take to approve a commercial change (e.g., re-quote, pricing adjustment, scope change)?

Less than 2 weeks

2-6 weeks

More than 6 weeks

How many functional handoffs are typically involved before a change is approved?

One or two

Three or four

Five or more

Program Execution Alignment

Understanding assumption drift through program lifecycle

Quote

drift

Award

drift

Launch

drift

Production

How often do programs execute under conditions that differ meaningfully from the original commercial assumptions?

Rarely

Sometimes

Often

How is program execution risk tracked once a program is live?

Spreadsheets or static documents

Periodic meetings and reviews

A centralized system

Estimated Hidden Margin Leakage

1.5% - 3.0% of Revenue

Based on patterns observed across complex manufacturing organizations with similar profiles.

Your Annual Revenue

$500M

$50M $5,000M

Estimated Annual Impact $7.5M - $15M

Margin Leakage Breakdown

Quote-to-actual drift

Volume volatility

Change approval latency

Program execution gaps

Relative contribution to margin exposure. Hover for context.

Directional Benchmark

Less Exposed You More Exposed

Your exposure appears comparable to organizations with similar commercial profiles.

Key Observations

Ready to address these gaps?

Schedule a brief call to review your results and discuss next steps.

This diagnostic provides directional insight only and does not represent a financial audit or forecast.

How Execution Discipline Impacts Margin

Once programs are live, execution and decision governance determine whether margin drift is contained — or compounded.

Execution Discipline

Understanding how execution and decision governance contain or compound margin risk

SECTION 1 — PROGRAM STRUCTURE & OWNERSHIP

How clearly are program owners accountable for both delivery outcomes and assumption changes?

Accountability is clearly defined and enforced

Accountability exists but is informal

Accountability is unclear or fragmented

When commercial assumptions change, how consistently is program ownership updated and aligned?

Automatically and consistently

Manually, case by case

Inconsistently or late

SECTION 2 — CHANGE DETECTION

How are execution risks or deviations from plan typically identified?

Proactively, through system signals

Periodically, through reviews or meetings

Reactively, after issues surface

How early are execution issues typically visible relative to financial impact?

Before financial impact occurs

Around the same time

After margin impact is already realized

SECTION 3 — DECISION GOVERNANCE

When a program deviation occurs, how quickly is it clear who must make the next decision?

Immediately

After internal discussion

Only after escalation

How often do execution issues result in delayed or revisited decisions?

Rarely

Occasionally

Frequently

SECTION 4 — EXECUTION TRANSPARENCY

How visible are program-level impacts (schedule, cost, margin) to leadership while programs are in flight?

Continuously visible

Periodically summarized

Largely opaque until reviews

How are lessons from past execution issues captured and applied to future programs?

Systematically and consistently

Informally, through experience

Rarely or not at all

Execution-Driven Margin Risk

Low Execution Risk

Current execution discipline appears to contain margin drift effectively.

Key Observations

Organizations that consistently contain margin drift treat execution and decision governance as a continuous discipline — not a post-award activity.

Ready to strengthen execution governance?

Schedule a brief call to review your results and discuss next steps.

This diagnostic provides directional insight into execution and governance patterns and does not represent an operational audit.