The principal
Twenty years inside the operation, not beside it.
Most operations advice comes from people who used to run operations. This does not. The principal is in an operating seat today, which is why the read reflects this quarter's carrier market rather than the one he left five years ago.
David Reifschneider
Founder,
ReifCo Consulting
- Current seat
- Senior operations leadership at a scaling DTC apparel brand
- Experience
- 20+ years across DTC, e-commerce, 3PL, fulfillment and supply chain
- Focus
- 3PL and carrier economics, cost to serve, WMS selection, in-house build decisions
- Coverage
- US, remote, with on-site time where a network decision warrants it
- Direct
- david@reifco.net
Background
Built from two decades inside the operation.
I have spent more than twenty years in the operational trenches of DTC and e-commerce. Not advising from the outside, but running fulfillment centers, owning the P&L, building supply chains, and making the calls that decide whether a brand scales profitably or buckles under its own growth.
I am still in a seat. Every week I see the same thing that separates operations that scale from operations that quietly bleed: the 3PL contract nobody re-reads, the carrier mix nobody re-bids, the cost per order that climbs a few cents a quarter until it is a line item somebody has to explain.
ReifCo exists to put that experience on that problem for brands that cannot yet justify a full-time VP of Operations but are already paying for not having one. The engagement is deliberately small, deliberately senior, and deliberately time-boxed.
I take a small number of clients at a time. If you are a fit, I will say so on the call. If you are not, I will say that too, and tell you what to do first.
The work is designed to end. Good engagements extend anyway, but the plan always has a handover in it.
The approach
Four things that do not change.
Data before opinion
Every finding is grounded in your own records. Carrier invoices, rate cards, velocity reports, the 3PL scorecard. Not a framework applied from the outside.
Action over advice
An audit that does not change anything is expensive wallpaper. Every engagement ends in a short list your team can actually execute, in priority order.
Honest over comfortable
If the 3PL is overcharging, I will say so. If the real problem is the org chart and not the network, I will say that instead, even though it is a smaller engagement.
Designed to hand over
The goal is a client who does not need me. Documentation, a named internal owner, and a clean exit are part of the scope, not an afterthought.
Expertise
Where the knowledge is deepest.
Five areas. Everything else is a referral to somebody better at it.
Fulfillment & 3PL operations
Warehouse design, 3PL selection and management, WMS implementation, pick and pack optimisation, and SLA structures that carry teeth. This is the core.
Carrier & parcel economics
Rate card teardowns, accessorial and surcharge exposure, zone skipping and regional carrier mix, annual GRI impact modelling, and re-bid strategy.
Supply chain & vendor management
Vendor negotiation, supplier diversification, lead time compression, tariff and classification exposure, and supply chains that absorb disruption instead of transmitting it.
DTC & e-commerce operations
The full stack: inventory planning, returns, promise dates, and scaling fulfillment without spending the customer experience to do it. Applied across Amazon, Walmart eCommerce, Stitch Fix, Blue Apron, Zulily, Grove Collaborative, and several 3PLs.
Cost to serve & ops finance
True landed cost per order, margin by channel and by SKU, contribution after fulfillment, and finding the money that leaves the business without ever appearing as a decision.
Operations team building
Org design, hiring ops roles, SOP development, KPI frameworks, and building the management layer that lets a founder stop being the escalation path.
Published proof
The Operating Chief: how Jack Archer cut $600K in 3PL costs.
Third-party published work, not an anonymised testimonial. If you want to know how the thinking actually runs before you book a call, this is the most honest thirty minutes available.
Next step
Thirty minutes. No deck.
Bring your last three 3PL invoices and your cost per order. You will leave the call with the two or three things worth fixing first, or with an honest read that your operation is not where your margin problem lives.