Traditional change management plays a strong role when dealing with change resistance. Openly and transparently sharing ideas and plans helps everyone understand what any new implementations will deliver, and crucially it also shows them what their new or changing role would be within the company.

It is critical to make clear that not all supply chain digital transformation is about robots, artificial intelligence, and machine learning replacing people. Such concerns don’t only exist at lower levels of the business hierarchy either, with Northrop Grumman AOX’s Jason VanDeven explaining fear exists even among leaderships.

“Any change management process requires a lot of heavy lifting in the beginning to overcome the barriers and perceptions that make it difficult for change processes to be successful,” he says. “Employee and leader resistance, in addition to some customer resistance, makes it difficult to implement these processes.”