This viewpoint is a guest post created by Matt Kin. Kin is Director of Delivery Operations at Mohawk Industries, the largest flooring manufacturer in the world. A 15-year logistics industry veteran, Kin oversees routing operations across Mohawk's network of 30+ satellite locations in the United States. 

Many companies in physical operations are in the business of moving materials from point A to point B. Packages, food and beverages, concrete, fuel, or in the case of the business where I work, Mohawk Industries, flooring of every type. However, up until recently, the greatest volume of materials our organizations handled might well have been paper—inspection forms, invoices, bills of lading, time cards, the list goes on. 

This is one reason why digital transformation has been so important for physical operations companies. More companies are transitioning to digital tools to make their businesses more streamlined and efficient, and to lower costs. At Mohawk, where I serve as Director of Delivery Operations, we've just completed several critical deployments, including our ELD and component pay systems. We are poised to be completely paperless in the near future, capping off a huge company-wide effort to go digital.  

One clear takeaway from our experience is that even though digital transformation is a necessity, that doesn't mean that it’s easy. Here are four best practices from Mohawk's transition to digital solutions that can help you manage digital change at your own organization.

1. Look for signals for change from the bottom up and the top down.

It can be hard to know exactly when to make changes to established tools and processes within your operation. In my experience, the right time is when you start to get signals from your frontline employees that something isn’t working, and when you hear from executive leadership about a vision for change. One approach may be more tactical while the other more strategic, but they will both get you to the place where you need to be. 

For example, at Mohawk, we were getting a lot of feedback from managers that they were spending too much time putting information into spreadsheets. We asked what would help, and they mentioned digital tools that would help them do time tracking. From the other direction, Andy Yearout, our Vice President of Transportation and Logistics, had a vision for digital data collection and one database that would make it easy to find information and build reports. Digitizing that information has made it more accessible, as a result, we’ve been able to improve accountability and lower costs. 

Looking for these signals doesn’t mean waiting until solutions become such a problem that everyone starts to complain. On the contrary, it means that frontline employees and executives are on the same page and are aligned on improvements that will make a difference for the organization as a whole. 

2. Lean on your people to gain buy-in for organization-wide change.

Mohawk has 42,000 employees around the globe, a daunting size for any initiative, let alone one introducing new digital tools and processes. We make it a priority to communicate to everyone, but we rely on our managers and other frontline employees to understand change and educate each other. 

This approach is faster and more effective because our employees know our business inside and out. Many of our managers started as forklift drivers, order pickers, or in other frontline roles. When we deploy new solutions, they have the knowledge and expertise to understand how new tools fit into existing processes, and can help others understand how it will impact them on a day-to-day basis. 

Take some time to identify employees especially interested in digital transformation and use them to test new solutions. Smaller test groups of managers or drivers can help take the pressure off of implementing a new technology, and can help you spot potential issues before a wider deployment. 

3. Be present and put yourself "on call" to address concerns.

When implementing a new digital solution, sit down next to your employees and make sure they know how to use it and understand its purpose—and I mean that literally. Team members appreciate one-on-one attention, and it’s a surefire way to gain buy-in.

I also know it’s impossible to help everyone and be everywhere at the same time, especially at a large organization. However, when you’re going through a digital transformation, I strongly believe in making yourself as available as you can. While many employees will adopt new technology with no problem, those who may need more help know that I am a resource they can use to answer as many questions as they need to, as often as they need to, whenever they need to.

4. Align on a vision, but be open to alternative viewpoints.

While it’s a good idea to test and experiment with new digital tools, the overall vision for your  digital transformation should be clear and well-documented. Even more importantly, there should be alignment on your vision from across your organization at every level. Ensuring that everyone knows what you’re trying to accomplish, understands the reasons behind it, and agrees to work toward your goals is critical to the success of your digital initiatives. 

At the same time, it’s important to remember that no digital transformation plan should be set in stone. Technology moves fast, and business conditions are ever-changing. Talking to people within your organization, as well as listening to industry peers, will help you take the pulse of your digital transformation and help ensure that the changes you’re making are still relevant and will have a positive impact on your business overall. The ability to balance long-term vision with short term needs (and buzzy trends) can be difficult, but focusing on frontline employees—and whether new solutions will actually help them or end up creating more work—is a solid way to gauge whether you’re on the right track. 

Digital transformation can seem daunting, but many physical operations companies already have the most important elements—being flexible, helping colleagues to get the job done, aligning around goals to drive business outcomes—in place. With the best practices above, you can tap into what you already have to bring new technologies to empower your teams and make them even more successful.