At some point during a busy day in food distribution, someone will ask a perfectly reasonable question: “Are we going to get everything out on time?” Answering it may require checking orders, inventory, purchasing, warehouse progress, staffing and transportation. Then making a few calls. Then discovering that the answer changed while you were making the calls. It's a simple question with a remarkably athletic answer.
For decades, NECS has helped food distributors manage the information behind their businesses. As we look toward the next generation of software, we keep returning to a fundamental question: How can technology do more of the connecting and explaining, while keeping people firmly in command? Our answer is what we call the First Officer Principle.
A Capable Colleague in the Right Seat
In aviation, the first officer is a trained pilot who shares the work of operating the aircraft. The captain retains overall command, while both pilots work together. Imagine a system that identifies a developing problem, explains why it matters and prepares practical options.
“Picking in the frozen zone is falling behind. At the current pace, two routes may miss their loading windows.”
The technology contributes awareness and preparation. You contribute authority, experience and judgment.
Your Business Is More Than Its Data
Food distribution runs on information. It also runs on knowledge that is difficult to fit into a field on a screen. A system may find an available substitute. Your customer may have a very strong opinion about that substitute. Especially if it changes the pizza sauce. An unknown substitution policy is a reason to ask a question. It is not permission to get creative with someone else's menu.
From More Information to Better Understanding
Distributors already have plenty of information. The challenge is bringing the relevant pieces together in time to make a difference. A delayed inbound shipment may affect orders, commitments, inventory and picking deadlines. Sometimes the most valuable thing a system can say is, “Here is what I still don't know.”
Recommendations Should Come With Reasons
A recommendation earns trust when you can understand it.
- What was observed
- Which records and assumptions support the conclusion
- How current the information is
- What action is proposed
- Who or what else could be affected
- What remains uncertain
A confident sentence is easy to produce. A dependable recommendation takes more work. Your business deserves the work.
Approval Is the Beginning of Follow-Through
Approving a recommendation does not mean the problem has been solved. A transfer can be approved and still fail to arrive. A customer can decline a substitute. A digital assistant that says “Done” when it means “I tried” is going to have a very short career in food distribution.
There Is Still Plenty of Room for Automation
Established workflows can run under rules and permissions that people have already authorized. The goal is to give people more time for work that requires them—and better information when they reach it.
The Vision Behind Mission Control
This principle is helping shape NECS Mission Control, which is currently in development. Our vision is to bring together operational information, reveal relationships between events and help the responsible person prepare a timely response. These are design commitments guiding our work, rather than a claim that every capability is available today.
A Stronger Tomorrow, With You in Command
The people who run food distribution businesses make consequential decisions every day. They deserve technology that helps carry that workload.
Mission Control recommends. The appropriate person decides.”
You bring the experience, the priorities and the destination. We're building a more capable first officer for the journey.
