MSE Capability
Commercial Performance Management
MSE builds the commercial control system for a physical book — the metrics, the benchmarking and the performance discipline — so that a principal can see and steer commercial performance, not just report it after the fact.
Most commercial books are measured by what is easy to count, not by what actually drives margin. A number reported monthly but impossible to act on is overhead, not control.
Where value leaks
Measuring what is counted, not what moves margin
The wrong metrics
OTIF, DSO, demurrage and margin uplift are the levers that move a physical book — but the book is measured on volume and revenue, which describe activity rather than performance.
Benchmarking against itself
Performance is compared to last month rather than to a competitive standard. The book improves on its own baseline and still loses to the market.
No competitive sheet
Pricing and terms are set without a structured view of where the offer actually stands against alternatives. Margin is left on the table because nobody measured the gap.
Metrics that describe, not direct
A KPI is reported but carries no owner, no target and no consequence. Measurement theatre.
Performance read in arrears
The numbers arrive too late to change anything — the quarter is closed before the book knows how it did.
How MSE works
A system that directs, not just reports
The control system is built on the metrics that actually move a physical book — OTIF, DSO, demurrage, margin uplift — rather than on what is easy to count. Performance is benchmarked against a competitive standard, not the book’s own prior baseline, using a structured competitive sheet that shows where the offer truly stands. Each metric carries an owner, a target and a consequence, and the cycle is run so the book sees its performance in time to change it, not in arrears.
Track record
On a $4.5B+ commercial book, MSE has run the control system end to end — on-time-in-full of 84–96%, days sales outstanding cut from 55 to 38, demurrage down 40%, and over $65M in margin uplift.
Mandate format
How an engagement is structured
Advisory mandate
KPI design and competitive benchmarking: definition of the metrics, targets, ownership and the competitive sheet.
Execution mandate
Running the performance cycle: measurement, benchmarking and corrective discipline against target.
Engaged as a commission agent under the Swiss Code of Obligations, Art. 425–438. Fee structure — retainer and/or success fee — agreed per mandate.
Engage MSE
Discuss a mandate
If your book is reported but not steered, MSE will build the control system that lets you steer it.
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