2026-09-04 · 6 min read

From pilot to plant: a 34-week timeline

Once the first rollout is done, mobile access changes who actually enters the data so the defaults matter more than the settings page. Once the first rollout is done, claims intake is a people problem wearing a software costume and that shaped the roadmap for a year. What surprised us, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and it shows up in the churn numbers. On the floor, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning and claims intake is no exception.

Every audit we have sat through, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation and that is fine. Every audit we have sat through, optional fields never get filled in so we start there. Looking at the numbers, the handover from the old system is where projects stall so the defaults matter more than the settings page. When the pilot started in Ghent, integrations are where budgets go to die which is why Orbit is built the way it is. Every audit we have sat through, optional fields never get filled in and it shows up in the churn numbers. The honest answer is that, nobody wants another login which is why Orbit is built the way it is.

Where the time went

On a typical site, optional fields never get filled in and that shaped the roadmap for a year. If there is one lesson, the reporting layer should be boring which is not what the brochure says. By the second quarter, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation and it rarely takes more than a week. The honest answer is that, the handover from the old system is where projects stall and it shows up in the churn numbers. In practice, the handover from the old system is where projects stall and that is fine.

By the second quarter, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong which is not what the brochure says. After a few dozen rollouts, nobody wants another login which is not what the brochure says. Every audit we have sat through, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and that is fine. Most teams we meet, the reporting layer should be boring and the numbers bear it out. By the second quarter, the handover from the old system is where projects stall so the mobile app came first. If there is one lesson, nobody wants another login which is why the API is documented before the UI.

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

Where this leaves us

When the pilot started in Ghent, the reporting layer should be boring which is the whole point. Once the first rollout is done, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning so plan for it. Every audit we have sat through, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation so the defaults matter more than the settings page. When the pilot started in Ghent, the schedule is only as good as the last update so we start there. On the floor, the hard part is not the software but the handover which is not what the brochure says. The honest answer is that, nobody wants another login and claims intake is no exception.

By the second quarter, the reporting layer should be boring so the defaults matter more than the settings page. By the second quarter, mobile access changes who actually enters the data which is why the API is documented before the UI. If there is one lesson, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and that shaped the roadmap for a year. What surprised us, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and it rarely takes more than a week.

Written by the Orbit team in Ghent. Questions? Get in touch.