The e.Mix Model in practice: the complete guide

Most SaaS vendors deliver the system and disappear. Go-live becomes the finish line, and in the following months the operation discovers it bought a tool nobody uses the right way. The spreadsheet comes back. The analyst goes back to manual follow-up. The manager goes back to answering status questions in the S&OP meeting.

That isn’t a system failure. It’s a model failure: a system without a methodology and without people who sustain adoption doesn’t deliver results. It delivers one more tool to feed.

FollowNet One is e.Mix’s foreign trade software. But FollowNet One on its own isn’t what sets e.Mix apart in the market. What sets it apart is the e.Mix Model: System + Methodology + Team that lives your operation, a structured approach that starts before go-live and doesn’t end with it. This guide explains what the e.Mix Model is, how it works in practice and why operations that follow it sustain results for years, not weeks.

• → The problem: a system implemented without a methodology becomes one more tool to feed by hand
• → The cost and risk: low adoption, a return to the old process, investment with no visible ROI
• → The mechanism: 6 steps of structured implementation + continuous improvement with a PDCA cycle + a team certified in Lean Six Sigma
• → How to start: one critical trade lane, focused configuration, visible results in 30 days, not in 18 months

What the e.Mix Model is

The e.Mix Model is how e.Mix structures the implementation, adoption and continuous evolution of FollowNet One at each customer. It isn’t an onboarding manual: it’s a complete methodology, based on PDCA, Lean Six Sigma and process mapping, that starts at the kick-off and evolves every month.

Three pillars support the method:

1. System: FollowNet One configured for the operation’s real profile: trade lanes, partners, criticality, integrations. Not a standard installation, but a configuration that reflects what the operation needs.
2. Methodology: 6 structured implementation steps, with a schedule, defined key people, certified training and a follow-up routine. Go-live isn’t the end; it’s the start of the continuous improvement cycle.
3. A team that lives your operation: an e.Mix team certified in project methodologies (PSM, PMP) and process mapping (Lean Six Sigma). Not just technical support, but professionals who understand foreign trade operations and solve problems together with the customer.

The 6 steps of the implementation process

Implementation under the e.Mix Model happens in six structured steps, each with a clear deliverable, a defined owner and a completion criterion:

1. Plan: kick-off and schedule. Project presentation, definition of the key people, high-level schedule and release of the system’s initial base.
2. Configure: mapping and setup. Mapping of the current scenario, configuration of services and integrations based on the operation’s real profile.
3. Train: training and certification. Training for users, administrators and key users, with knowledge certification.
4. Follow up: adoption follow-up. Monitoring of usage and of the improvements implemented, with adoption indicators by trade lane.
5. Close: results presentation. Presentation of expected versus achieved gains, final sign-off and introduction of the customer success team.
6. Improve: continuous improvement. Periodic reassessment of the implemented process, identification of opportunities and adjustments. The process starts over with each cycle.

Why operations with the e.Mix Model sustain results for years

The short-term results (less manual follow-up, alerts working, S&OP with data in hand) show up in the first weeks. But what separates operations that sustain those results for years from those that go back to the old model is structured continuous improvement.

Every month, the customer success team presents the savings achieved and identifies what can be improved to increase the result the following month. The system doesn’t stay frozen in the go-live configuration: it evolves with the operation, taking in new trade lanes, new partners and new exception rules.

This cycle is what e.Mix calls “driving the Ferrari with all its features”. The tool has the capacity; the method makes sure the operation learns to use it progressively.

Proof from the field: System + Methodology + Team that lives your operation

Before: Manual activities, more people for basic tasks, individual lookups for each status.

After: The information comes to the analyst; they don’t have to go to the screen. Fewer people producing more, because the methodology points to what needs attention.

Eloi Filho, Customs Clearance Director, LOX Shipping
Video (in Portuguese): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X21pnGZIyqg&t=149s

How the e.Mix Model works in practice: the first 90 days

The first 90 days follow a wave logic: each wave adds a trade lane or a feature, calibrates the results and prepares the next cycle. It isn’t everything at once; it’s progressive, with a measurable result at each stage.

Days 1–30 (first wave): configuration of the trade lane with the highest volume or the highest historical cost, training of the key users, first alerts live. KPI: percentage of shipments with status updated in the last 24 hours.

Days 31–60 (calibration): review of the alerts based on what happened in the first month, adjustment of criteria, expansion to the second trade lane. KPI: number of alerts resolved within the SLA.

Days 61–90 (expansion): third trade lane or second transport mode, integration with additional partners, a consolidated weekly exceptions routine. KPI: estimated monthly savings versus the baseline.

How to set up the e.Mix Model without an endless project

Owner: Foreign Trade Manager or Coordinator, responsible for making sure the key people take part in the training and that the exception dashboard is reviewed daily.

Cadence: daily, reviewing the exception dashboard before the workday starts; monthly, reviewing the savings with the customer success team and defining the next improvement cycle.

Traffic-light KPI: monthly savings: less demurrage, less emergency freight and fewer hours of manual follow-up. Presented by the e.Mix team every month, compared with the previous month’s baseline.

First scope: the trade lane with the highest volume or the highest historical cost. One 30-day wave. Visible results before expanding.