Answer
Measuring the friction usually means tracking three things for a week or two: how often a transaction gets re-keyed by hand, how often a count gets corrected after the fact, and how much time supervisors spend chasing down where an order or shipment actually is. Receiving problems tend to be the quietest and most expensive, since a bad putaway or miscount at intake propagates errors into every downstream process before anyone notices. Picking and shipping problems tend to be the loudest, since they show up as customer complaints and late trucks.
Buyers should resist the instinct to modernize the most visible workflow first if the data points somewhere else. A phase one built around receiving accuracy, for example, might include better label capture and lot or serial tracking at intake, while a phase one built around shipping might prioritize pack verification and carrier label accuracy. Whichever workflow goes first, define two or three measurable outcomes before the rollout starts, so the results can be used to justify the budget and sequencing for the next phase.