Conference Coverage: "Overcoming Obstacles to Modernizing Supply Chain Technology"

"Overcoming Obstacles to Modernizing Supply Chain Technology" was the rather broad topic and title for a session held at the Smart City Logistics & Connected Supply Chain Solutions Theaters on Monday. But, the solutions offered during the session by Trevor Blumenau, CEO, Voodoo Robotics, were anything but broad or generic. His insights were specific, targeted and based on real-life scenarios, and brought a bit of levity to what can be a daunting task: modernizing your supply chain. 

"The last person who did that probably got their head handed to them," he theorized, when talking about a company employee trying to enact change. The problem with this? "To enact change you have to embrace the people who propose change," he said. "Give them kudos for taking the risk they’re taking. That is what my talk here is really about.... In order to make change you have to hire really good people." He said that, sometimes, the people who come up with the good ideas are the ones "at the water fountain." They can be the ones that "set the direction," not necessarily the leaders in the board room—some of whom probably don’t want change. Plus, "you have to hire leaders in your organization who can... convince people to make changes." This can involve creating a vision of what life will be like if you make those changes. Remember, too, "leadership is not always about being right." 

Keep in mind, too, that your IT department’s decisions and involvement don’t always match up with yours. "They might have their own ‘nefarious’ agenda!" While IT can be huge opportunity and can be the center of profitability, make sure their goals are the same as yours. 

When implementing technology, the change doesn’t have to happen overnight, either, or all at once. "Making little incremental changes can be a very valuable path. "Deploy things in parallel," he suggested, "to get people used to the new way. " This approach gives you a good opportunity to test things out. It allows you to do things in a small way, he said. "You can take little bites at a time. Make a little path and follow that path. Think of each step as an enhancement."