While familiar forms, such as instructor-led teaching, continue to some degree, industry is shifting to digital knowledge networks because of the flexibility the technology offers. "Among other things, that flexibility means there is instant access to information when people need it," says Sedgman.

Companies that may once have been slow to invest in such technology see now that they become more efficient and make better decisions, Sedgman says. “It’s important for us to invest in these technologies and become more familiar with them, and that’s true all the way up to the executive team, not just those who are actually using these technologies.”

Each level of an enterprise should understand how the supply chain is being transformed, what the impact of the Internet of Things is or what machine learning is all about, Sedgman says. “Everybody should understand why it is important to adopt these technologies, and the value they bring. Often, that piece is forgotten, the change management piece.”

The irony is that many employees utilize similar technology in their everyday lives through social media. “When we get to our work lives, we seem to forget how to use them. That’s one of the benefits of our RapidResponse tool — with it, we’re introducing the ability for people to collaborate and share knowledge across the supply chain.”

That sharing tops the traditional one-way information transfer model because multiple parties can access a knowledge pool simultaneously. That contributes to tearing down silos within companies and building stronger relationships. It also helps eliminate the “I didn’t know” excuse, Sedgman says.

“Adaptive collaboration, which we’ve built right into the tool, enables people to talk to one another as things are happening, to tell each other what decisions they are making that may impact the others, and help them understand what’s happening in real time.”

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