War-game a route density cut by proving each stop class has a named owner, a measured age-out, and a reverse path before draft densities start governing every coverage claim.
Route density cuts fail when "cut" means a status without a decision artifact, when teams dual-count a draft density as both approved and live, and when high-risk routes still pin to one thin planner because the stop inventory is incomplete. The review needs one written inventory of stop classes, one owner who can deny a risky shortcut, and a documented consequence when a failed density ages past the deadline.
Pin the cut under review
State which routes the cut covers, the effective date, which stop densities change, how versions are stored, and what happens to service calls already in flight. Name the regions that feel it first and the arrival promises that depend on coherent route handling. If the memo mixes a route density cut with a territory map freeze and a van stock shortage, split them.
Write the decision you will make if the war game finds nothing new. Also write the reverse criteria: the missed stop, coverage gap, or customer deadline that would force a cut rollback within a stated window.
Who must sit
- Field ops. Density timing, age-out math, and what the stop forecast hides if exceptions soften after the policy.
- Dispatch. Labor lag, dual-counted routes, and the message that would leave orphan stops open past lock.
- Inventory ops. Van stock capacity, safety stock load, and relationship damage with customers when densities jump overnight.
- Finance. Labor-cost load, forecast promises that break in process, and the first ninety days of thicker overtime after a soft cut.
- Skeptic. The claim that looks strongest and is least sourced.
Attach the same source pack to every seat: open routes, stops in flight, protected classes, coverage commitments, and the age-out policy you actually intend to use. Secret data for one seat creates fake agreement.
Run the private fire
Feed Pingpong the cut memo, the density exhibits, and the seating briefs. First pass steelmans the cut. Later passes attack from field, dispatch, inventory, and finance seats. Final pass turns surviving objections into phased density rules, mitigations, or a changed recommendation.
Pair with the field ops lead seat, a van stock shortage stress test, a territory map freeze, and a service call SLA. More operating decisions live in the war-game decisions hub.
Ship the cut only when approved and blocked density labels can be reproduced from stored route exports without a verbal override.