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Every supply chain transformation starts with rules. But just like cooking Fettuccine Alfredo, success depends on hidden steps no one writes down.
Imagine following a friend’s recipe: boil pasta, melt butter, add cream, sprinkle Parmesan, mix, and serve. You do everything exactly—but the pasta is… okay. Creamy, yes—but lacking the richness you expected.
The secret? Sequence, timing, and subtle techniques. Supply chain projects work the same way. The rules aren’t wrong—it’s the nuances that determine success
❓ Why “What Are Your Rules?” Often Fails
Every digital transformation begins with the familiar consultant question: "What are your rules?"
Most organizations don’t have clean, documented rules:
- Some live in scattered spreadsheets.
- Some exist only in the heads of key team members.
- Some are unwritten, passed down as tribal knowledge.
The result? A frustrating cycle that often ends with: 👉 “Let’s just make it a manual override.”
Short-term fix? Yes.
Long-term consequence? Poor adoption, growing manual work, and eventually—another tool replacement.
🕰️ The Old Fix: Expensive Expertise
Traditionally, companies bridged this gap by:
- Hiring highly experienced consultants with decades of domain knowledge.
- Bringing back retired specialists who knew the company’s unwritten playbook.
Both approaches are expensive, limited in scale, and can create friction with current teams.
🚀 A Smarter Approach: Shaping Rules Instead of Asking for Them
Instead of asking customers to articulate every hidden rule, top consultants bring context-rich best practices from day one.
For example:
“Many companies still face a surge of spot transport requests because forecasts aren’t fully owned by business teams. I’d love to understand—how has this manual approach affected your team’s ability to plan strategically and meet service goals? If we implemented an automated, forecast-driven process, what new opportunities could open up for better shipment planning, resource utilization, and overall supply chain performance?”
This shifts the conversation:
Documenting rules → Shaping smarter requirements → Aligning on outcomes that matter.
🤖 Where AI Makes the Difference
AI-enabled consultants can now:
- Learn industry nuances rapidly without decades of experience.
- Detect patterns across multiple implementations and surface proven approaches.
- Blend best practices with a client’s unique context.
The result? Faster projects, lower costs, and far higher adoption.
✅ A Customer’s Checklist
If you’re embarking on a transformation, ask yourself:
- Is my consulting team relying too heavily on me to define unwritten rules?
- Are they embedding best practices—or just coding what I say?
- Do they bring AI-driven insights that help avoid the “manual override trap”?
Because in the end, a tool is only as good as the team who implements it.
🏁 Final Word
Digital transformation isn’t about automating yesterday’s rules.
It’s about choosing partners who can rewrite those rules with you—infusing best practices, local context, and AI-driven insight.
Next time a consultant asks, “What are your rules?”
Ask back: “What have you learned from others like me, and how will you help me get it right the first time?”