When the leadership team at a major health system distribution center received a proposal for a supply chain assessment, the reaction was mixed. The signs of strain were everywhere—backlogged shipments sitting on the dock, critical supplies delayed in reaching clinicians, and frontline staff spending more time troubleshooting inventory discrepancies than focusing on patient care. Leadership knew the problems existed, but the real challenge was identifying the root causes and prioritizing solutions.
Bill Myers, a veteran in supply chain optimization at RiseNow, has seen this scenario unfold countless times.
"The reaction to the assessment is always one end of the spectrum—never in the middle," Bill explains. "We either have a leader who recognizes they have an issue and wants a fresh perspective, or we have someone who wasn’t involved in the decision and now wonders why someone is scrutinizing their work."
The skepticism is understandable. No one likes feeling exposed, and an assessment can feel like an intrusive magnifying glass that’s bringing years of potentially inefficient processes to light. But what hospitals and distribution centers often fail to realize is that these assessments are not about finding fault—they’re about uncovering opportunities.
Resistance and the Human Factor
The reluctance to embrace supply chain assessments doesn’t always stem from logic—it’s often emotional. Employees fear disruption. Managers worry about justifying their past decisions. And, as Bill bluntly puts it, some wonder if "they’re carving time out of their daily work to help get themselves fired."
A large part of this fear comes from the difficulty of separating facts from emotions. Organizations often operate with long-standing assumptions about how and why things are done a certain way, and challenging those assumptions can feel personal. Bill explains that when an assessment identifies inefficiencies, the goal isn’t to point fingers—it’s to provide a factual foundation for improvement. "We’re not qualifying any of the facts as ‘this person did a good thing’ or ‘this person did a bad thing,’" he says."It’s about understanding the constraints and assumptions that existed at the time decisions were made and resetting the baseline based on what we know now and providing guidance on leading practices.
This approach helps teams take a step back and see their supply chain challenges through a different lens—one rooted in data rather than emotion or tribal knowledge. Bill and his team ensure that employees are credited for their ingenuity in working around broken processes, rather than blamed for inefficiencies. "We give credit where it’s due," he emphasizes. "Recognize the hard work people have done to make things work, then incorporate those insights into a better solution."
One effective way to change the narrative is to reframe the conversation. Instead of asking, “who made this decision?” the better question is, “given the facts and constraints at the time, why was this decision made?”
Once people see that they weren’t necessarily making “bad”choices, but were working with the information available to them, they become more open to new solutions. Bill says, "If you had known then what you know now, would you have done something differently? Of course. That’s the point of the assessment—to give you that fresh perspective."
The Cost Concern
Another major objection is cost. In an industry constantly balancing tight budgets, it’s easy to see an assessment as an added expense, especially because many leadership teams have been through it before only to be presented with an executive summary that’s thrown in a drawer, never to be actioned. Bill has seen this countless times, and suggests that the mindset needs to change going in.
The focus should be on the actions taken out of the assessment, not the assessment itself. “I hear it all the time,” he says. “I dumped a lot of money into it and nothing comes out of it. I’ve done it four times before. I’ve done it six times before. I’ve been at ten organizations, and we’ve done it. Here’s the thing: you must pair the assessment with an action plan, and you must be willing to take the next step. You must understand that the assessment itself solves nothing. If an organization isn’t willing to do the next steps, don’t waste time or money on the assessment!”
Ultimately, an assessment should be viewed as a catalyst rather than a conclusion—it’s only as valuable as the action it inspires. Without a commitment to implementing findings, even the most thorough evaluation will fail to drive meaningful improvements.
The Fear of Uncovering Too Much
Perhaps the most deeply ingrained fear is that an assessment will uncover more problems than the organization is prepared to fix. "Some leaders worry that an assessment will unlock a whole can of worms," Bill acknowledges."But the truth is, those problems exist whether we uncover them or not. The only question is whether you want to fix them now—or let them keep costing you money."
At RiseNow, the focus isn’t just on identifying issues but on creating a logical, prioritized roadmap for addressing them. Not every problem needs an immediate solution, and Bill emphasizes that an assessment is not about overwhelming leadership with data—it’s about providing a clear, step-by-step action plan. "Our job is to help you break it down into manageable pieces," he explains. "You don’t have to solve everything at once. We help organizations prioritize efforts based on impact, feasibility, and alignment with strategic goals."
By taking a phased approach, organizations avoid decision paralysis and gain quick wins that build momentum for long-term improvements."The key is to separate the urgent from the important, so leadership knows where to start and how to maintain progress without disrupting daily operations," Bill adds. "An assessment should be empowering, not overwhelming."
A Turning Point
For many organizations, the real turning point comes when they see the impact of just one small insightful change. Bill recalls a distribution center that had to perform multiple replenishments for a single item daily. "A normal forward pick should have five to seven days of inventory. But they had less than a day’s worth. Their pickers weren’t slow, as management had assumed—they were waiting on inventory!" The solution, once the issue was exposed, was to simply find a bigger location for the product.
Once the team saw this in action, their resistance melted away. Fixing this single issue created impactful efficiencies across multiple departments. “Less picks were issued, less containers were used, more space was available on the truck, less containers had to be worked on the docks, and the product was all together allowing for the put away to be done all at once. The biggest surprises come from the little things," Bill says. "People have looked at the same problem for years, but they’ve never looked at it through a different lens."
The Strongest Argument for an Assessment
For any organization debating whether to invest in an assessment, the key question isn’t if they should do it—but can they afford not to? The compounded impact of inefficiencies, misalignment, and waste is often much greater than the initial cost of the assessment itself.
But for an assessment to be successful, buy-in is essential—from leadership down to the front-line workers. "Make people part of the solution," Bill advises. "If they’re not transparent, if they’re not engaged, the quality of the assessment will reflect that."
Also to note: RiseNow’s assessments are performed by former practitioners – those who have been in your shoes, have the necessary operational knowledge and technology expertise, and can speak your language from real-world experience.
If you’ve ever wondered what a supply chain assessment actually entails—or what tangible benefits it can bring—join us for our upcoming webinar. We’ll take a behind-the-scenes look at how we conduct assessments, share success stories, and answer your questions in real-time.
And if you're ready to explore how an assessment could work for your organization, we’d love to start a conversation. Reach out to us to schedule an initial consultation and take the first step toward unlocking your supply chain’s full potential.
