Too often, we treat change like something that happens automatically once a new interface is live. But behavior doesn’t change because you tell people to do something differently. It changes when they believe the new way is better for them, their team, and the customer.That belief doesn’t come from training modules. It comes from involvement.
There’s a certain kind of mistake I see again and again in supply chain transformations. It goes something like this:
A company decides to “digitally transform.” They pick a new platform. Maybe two. They launch an initiative with a Gantt chart and a lot of meetings. They train some staff, roll out the tools, and… things don’t really change. Not where it counts.
On a recent episode of the DataStream Podcast, Andy McKenzie, Director of Supply Chain Operations at King and Prince Seafood, explained why that happens:
“It’s always been about people and processes and how we build those teams to manage that but now linking those to are our systems.”
That order matters. People. Then processes. Then systems. The tech connects, but it doesn’t lead. If you reverse that order by throwing tech at a team that doesn’t understand what it’s for or how it fits into their daily work you get confusion, not transformation.
Andy put it more directly:
“If we throw things at people and squeeze it down their throats, we’re not going to be successful. We have to educate… and gain their participation.”
- Andy McKenzie, DataStream Podcast
A system rollout is not a transformation. It’s a tool delivery. The transformation happens when the people using that tool understand how it helps them make better decisions, move faster, or reduce fire drills.
Too often, we treat change like something that happens automatically once a new interface is live. But behavior doesn’t change because you tell people to do something differently. It changes when they believe the new way is better for them, their team, and the customer.
That belief doesn’t come from training modules. It comes from involvement.
When we work with our customers at Unity SCM, we tell them the best time to get user buy-in isn’t during training. It’s three months earlier, when you’re still figuring out what the process needs to be.
People support what they help build. That’s true on the factory floor and in the boardroom. So the goal isn’t just to roll out a system that checks boxes. It’s to build one that makes someone’s day easier and shows them how it does that.
That’s where leaders like Andy get it right. He talks about educating dock schedulers, procurement analysts, and floor supervisors not just on the mechanics of new tech, but on why it matters and what data really means in the context of their work.
It’s not “here’s your new dashboard.” It’s “here’s how this helps you avoid detention charges or improve throughput.”
Too many implementations fail because they get the order backwards. They lead with systems. Then processes. Then people… maybe.
But systems don’t solve problems. People do.
They are also what turns supply chains from fragile to adaptive because when things go wrong (and they will), it won’t be the dashboard that fixes it. It’ll be the person who knows what that alert actually means, and what to do next.
