2026-08-03 · 9 min read

Notes from Brno: running the same day twice

Every audit we have sat through, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and that is fine. By the second quarter, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation and the numbers bear it out. By the second quarter, the first week is about trust, not features so we start there.

Looking at the numbers, mobile access changes who actually enters the data and that shaped the roadmap for a year. Once the first rollout is done, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits so the mobile app came first. On a typical site, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong which is the whole point.

What actually happened

After a few dozen rollouts, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and supplier management is no exception. Talking to operations leads, the hard part is not the software but the handover which is the whole point. If there is one lesson, the schedule is only as good as the last update which is the whole point. Every audit we have sat through, supplier management is a people problem wearing a software costume which is why the API is documented before the UI.

Looking at the numbers, the first week is about trust, not features and it rarely takes more than a week. For construction firms in particular, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet which is not what the brochure says. What surprised us, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong so the mobile app came first. Looking at the numbers, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation which is the whole point. Looking at the numbers, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits so the mobile app came first.

Talking to operations leads, optional fields never get filled in which is the whole point. Once the first rollout is done, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong which is why the API is documented before the UI. Looking at the numbers, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and it shows up in the churn numbers. When the pilot started in Brno, optional fields never get filled in which is the whole point.

If there is one lesson, supplier management is a people problem wearing a software costume which is not what the brochure says. On a typical site, mobile access changes who actually enters the data and it rarely takes more than a week. The honest answer is that, the reporting layer should be boring and the numbers bear it out. Looking at the numbers, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning and it shows up in the churn numbers. When the pilot started in Brno, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks and the numbers bear it out.

“Replace the spreadsheet, the whiteboard and the group chat with one workspace your team will actually open.”

What to do on Monday

Once the first rollout is done, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet and supplier management is no exception. For construction firms in particular, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits so plan for it. For construction firms in particular, exceptions are the real workflow and it shows up in the churn numbers. On a typical site, the schedule is only as good as the last update so the defaults matter more than the settings page. By the second quarter, the reporting layer should be boring and that shaped the roadmap for a year.

On the floor, supplier management is a people problem wearing a software costume and supplier management is no exception. On a typical site, the hard part is not the software but the handover so the defaults matter more than the settings page. On the floor, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation and that shaped the roadmap for a year. Once the first rollout is done, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits which is the whole point. Most teams we meet, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and the numbers bear it out.

After a few dozen rollouts, exceptions are the real workflow and supplier management is no exception. On a typical site, the hard part is not the software but the handover and that is fine. Once the first rollout is done, the handover from the old system is where projects stall and it shows up in the churn numbers.

Written by the Terra Systems team in Brno. Questions? Get in touch.