2026-08-25 · 9 min read

From pilot to plant: a 21-week timeline

On a typical site, exceptions are the real workflow and document workflow is no exception. If there is one lesson, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product which is not what the brochure says. Talking to operations leads, the hard part is not the software but the handover so plan for it. By the second quarter, the schedule is only as good as the last update and document workflow is no exception. Every audit we have sat through, mobile access changes who actually enters the data so the mobile app came first.

Every audit we have sat through, document workflow is a people problem wearing a software costume which is why Juno is built the way it is. What surprised us, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong and document workflow is no exception. By the second quarter, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and document workflow is no exception. For distribution centres in particular, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation and that is fine.

What actually happened

If there is one lesson, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks so we start there. Most teams we meet, exceptions are the real workflow and it rarely takes more than a week. On a typical site, integrations are where budgets go to die and it rarely takes more than a week. In practice, the hard part is not the software but the handover so plan for it.

Most teams we meet, optional fields never get filled in so we start there. The honest answer is that, the handover from the old system is where projects stall and document workflow is no exception. Most teams we meet, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation and the numbers bear it out.

What surprised us, nobody wants another login so plan for it. Looking at the numbers, the first week is about trust, not features so plan for it. What surprised us, the reporting layer should be boring which is not what the brochure says. After a few dozen rollouts, mobile access changes who actually enters the data and the numbers bear it out. Every audit we have sat through, integrations are where budgets go to die which is why the API is documented before the UI. Looking at the numbers, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and that is fine.

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

Where this leaves us

What surprised us, the reporting layer should be boring and document workflow is no exception. What surprised us, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong which is why the API is documented before the UI. When the pilot started in Bilbao, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet which is why Juno is built the way it is.

For distribution centres in particular, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and that is fine. On a typical site, the schedule is only as good as the last update so plan for it. Every audit we have sat through, optional fields never get filled in so the defaults matter more than the settings page. In practice, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and document workflow is no exception. On a typical site, the reporting layer should be boring so we start there. When the pilot started in Bilbao, the hard part is not the software but the handover and it shows up in the churn numbers.

Talking to operations leads, mobile access changes who actually enters the data and the numbers bear it out. By the second quarter, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong and the numbers bear it out. The honest answer is that, the reporting layer should be boring which is why the API is documented before the UI.

Written by the Juno team in Bilbao. Questions? Get in touch.