Supply Chain Readiness: A Conversation with Rob Brice, Co-founder and CEO of RFgen

Why Execution Still Wins in Supply Chain Modernization

To start, when companies talk about modernizing their supply chains, what does “doing it right” really mean?

Rob:
After more than three decades working in supply chain execution, mobility, and ERP extension, I’ve seen technology cycles come and go. What hasn’t changed is this: success or failure is decided at the point of work. Not in the boardroom. Not in a strategy deck. On the warehouse floor, the shop floor, and the dock door.

Where Modernization Breaks Down: Theory vs. Reality

Where do you see the biggest gap between what leaders expect and what their systems can actually deliver?

Rob:
One consistent failure point is the gap between how executives think work happens and how it actually happens. Executives aren’t walking the shop floor day in and day out, so what may look great on paper can fail completely in practice if the workflow doesn’t match reality.

I’ve watched systems get deployed where every scan takes several seconds to validate. On day one, people try. On day three, the devices are set aside, and the workforce reverts to manual paper processes. Alternatively, if they keep using the system, what happens is you repeat a small delay thousands of times per worker per day; it quickly leads to real cost, real frustration, and real resistance.

Adoption lives or dies in those moments, because the human side matters more than people think. Workers have grown to expect mobile device interactions to be similar to the phones they use every day. When their workplace interface becomes a challenge, that’s a poor user experience that carries weight. Training and new employee onboarding increases as they must unlearn what they do every day just to use the system.

That’s not a training problem. That’s an execution failure.

What are the breaking points that push supply chain teams to modernize?

Rob:
Most organizations don’t replace execution systems casually. Some teams try to tinker and chase incremental improvement as part of a continuous improvement cycle. Others optimize what they need, train once, and then run it.

Change usually happens after a trigger: a major customer escalation, a compliance gap, a recall, performance degradation, or scale pushing a system past its limits. By the time those moments arrive, the cost of delay and the pressure that follows is already high. That’s when companies decide to make a change.

The organizations that modernize with confidence are the ones that start earlier, define outcomes clearly, and design for adaptability rather than perfection on day one.

How can teams modernize execution and data capture without disrupting their ERP?

Rob:
One of the biggest misconceptions I still see is that modernization requires disrupting the ERP. It doesn’t.

The real question is whether you’re deploying a fixed catalog of applications or an execution platform. A catalog assumes that the workflow is static. A platform approach assumes reality will change, instead of getting locked into a solution that can’t evolve or adapt alongside your business.

Exceptions, new regulations, new customers, new channels, and new volumes are inevitable. When systems can’t adapt, people create manual workarounds. Those workarounds are tolerable until they turn into risk. Modernization should happen at the point of activity, in a way that respects the ERP as the system of record while allowing execution to evolve safely.

The Technologies Changing the Game

What changes are flying under the radar right now, but will have a big impact on supply chain operations?

Rob:
One of the most underappreciated shifts happening right now is RFID becoming economically viable at scale. As costs come down, it opens up use cases well beyond basic inventory visibility.

RFID allows you to verify movement, direction, and presence without requiring human interaction. That matters for chain-of-custody, counterfeit prevention, quality verification, and exception handling.

With any new technologies, the key is to apply them intentionally rather than deploying everything at once. Start where verification matters most, where exceptions are expensive, or where you need stronger chain-of-custody and security controls. Prove value. Learn. Then expand.

What’s the most common mistake you see organizations make when evaluating AI implementation?

Rob:
Today, many conversations start with AI. That’s understandable. But the uncomfortable truth is that most organizations aren’t ready for it from a data integrity perspective. If the data isn’t normalized in a way AI can consume, and if it isn’t timely and accurate, then creating an “AI project” is basically just throwing money away. Bottom line, you’ve got to get your house in order first.

AI is only as useful as the quality, structure, and timeliness of the operational data underneath it. If your data isn’t normalized, if the same part exists under five different identifiers, or if transactions arrive late or incomplete, AI doesn’t fix that. It amplifies the mess.

I’ve seen companies announce “AI initiatives” before they’ve addressed basic data integrity. In those cases, the outcome is predictable. You spend a lot of money, generate interesting demos, and still don’t trust the answers.

Before asking what AI can do for your operation, you need to ask whether your execution systems are producing clean, reliable, real-time data in the first place.

Buying Has Changed, and So Have the Risks

How is the software evaluation and buying process shifting across the supply chain industry?

Rob:
Buying committees are larger than they’ve ever been. Before, you might have had two or three people involved. Today, finance, IT, operations, compliance, actual users, and sometimes people who’ve never been part of a buying decision before are all involved.

That diversity is healthy, but only if there’s alignment. You can end up with a disparate view of what the ideal “to-be” state is. If you don’t even have agreement internally on what you’re trying to solve and what the end state should look like, then how is anyone supposed to deliver it? If you buy something without that alignment, it becomes a moving target, and you’re going to have gaps.

What are the leading factors causing supply chain technology projects to stall?

Rob:
When teams don’t agree on the problem they’re solving or the outcomes they’re driving toward, projects stall. ROI becomes hard to defend, scope drifts, and confidence erodes.

What’s missing in many organizations is structure: a shared vision of the future state, a clear definition of success, and an agreement on how value will be measured. Without that, even good technology struggles.

Companies looking to modernize through software investment would benefit from having more structure in how they build a common vision and a common set of things they need to evaluate.

A Practical Place to Start

If a supply chain team feels behind, where should they start to modernize in a practical, low-risk way?

Rob:
If you feel behind, start with outcomes, not technology. Is your objective to buy a system for a point in time or is your objective to automate your operations and have adaptability as things change?

Define what success looks like and identify the KPIs that matter. Are you currently tracking perfect order shipments? Are you tracking total pick time? And can the system help you track it so you can prove that the ROI you believed or predicted is what you’re realizing.

Measure where friction exists today. Then bring in people who will walk your floor, listen, and validate assumptions against reality. Small improvements compound quickly when repeated thousands of times a day. A second here, a few steps there, multiplied across a workforce, becomes real money.

That’s where modernization delivers its return.

Final Thoughts

Supply chain teams face bigger expectations today, with less room for disruption. AI is top of mind, but data quality and daily execution still decide the outcome. Small friction points, like slow validation or clunky device experiences, can derail adoption at scale. Small improvements can also compound when repeated thousands of times per day. Successful programs start with clear outcomes, align stakeholders early, and choose an execution layer that can adapt as requirements evolve. That is how teams modernize with confidence.

Estimate The Impact

If modernization is on your radar, start by getting a quick estimate of the benefits. Small efficiencies tend to compound, and having a number to reference makes it much easier to prioritize what to tackle first.

Try our ROI Calculator to see where improvements in time, labor, and accuracy could drive meaningful savings. You can also schedule time to talk with an RFgen expert. Our team can walk you through the results, validate assumptions, and help you map next steps that fit your workflows and systems.