June 8, 2022

The Psychology of Change: Transforming Your Supply Chain Technology

Guest blogger, Steve Franke, shares common threads from his daily conversations with FSQA and supply chain executives.

Every week I talk to FSQA and supply chain executives about the issues they face. There are some common threads.

Product and labor shortages continue to be big problems. They wish they had processes automated so they could free up their time to get some "real" work done. There is no simple way to track what they have in their supply chain, and now the FDA is adding stricter regulations with FSMA 204. Their suppliers are inconsistent in quality, but they don't have a simple way to track issues. They want all the data centralized in one place. Doing business is getting more complicated. It's getting harder to do their job and protect their company's brand. They know they need to make changes, starting with taking advantage of the latest and best technology, but yet they still can't get their company to upgrade. They may even have the budget allocated!

Why is change so difficult? It's not intelligence. It's not even resources. In simplest terms… It's fear of the unknown. Said in an academic way: Where the crossroads of proper discernment and irrational indecision exist is where justification of the status quo becomes the negative hedonic adaptation of a lack of executive action. In plain English: It's when you've gotten so comfortable that you are scared to make a change! It's the destructive reasoning of, "We've always done it this way, so why change now?"

This is especially true when touching the systems upon which all business depends. After all, making a decision about your supply chain technology is not like selecting an Heirloom tomato over a Roma tomato for your stew recipe if you are a restaurant or choosing to package your carrots bunched in 26 lb cartons or loose in 25 lb bags if you supply produce.

Harvard Business Review explains why resistance to change is normal for humans. From excessive unpredictability to unexpected surprises and loss of face in making a bad decision, the brain is designed to protect us from uncertainty. It feels like an uphill journey from the starting line of knowing that a change is needed to the destination of getting all the stakeholders and decision-makers within your company to agree to make the change needed. But if you partner with an established software company that has partnered with food businesses for years, the trip can be smooth…and even enjoyable.

The unrivaled implementation and configuration process is one of several reasons why leading companies like Chick-fil-A, Tyson, Conagra, Whole Foods, Chipotle, and more have chosen FoodLogiQ. Interested in learning what a conversion from your current systems and processes to FoodLogiQ looks like? We'd be happy to schedule some time with one of our experts to walk you through the steps taken to ensure a seamless transition. Within just a few short months, you could see those challenges listed above disappear, along with your fears of the once unknown.