What Grandma’s Cookie Recipe Can Teach Us About Supply Chains

Guest blog by Greg Malinowski, Client Executive for Tryon Solutions (MHI member)

Most families have that one recipe.

Maybe it’s Grandma’s chocolate chip cookies. Maybe it’s a secret barbecue sauce. Everyone loves it, everyone enjoys it, and everyone assumes someone knows how to make it.

Then one day Grandma isn’t there, and nobody can remember whether it was one teaspoon of vanilla or two.

The recipe wasn’t lost because it disappeared. It was lost because it lived in someone’s head.

I often think about that when talking with supply chain leaders. Across the industry, companies invest heavily in technology, automation, and process improvement. Yet one of the most valuable assets inside an operation often exists nowhere except in the minds of a few experienced employees.

For years, these individuals have learned the nuances of the operation. They know how to handle exceptions, troubleshoot issues, and keep work moving when things don’t go according to plan. Their knowledge becomes part of the operation’s success story…until one day they’re no longer there.

The Hidden Cost of Turnover

Employee turnover has always been part of supply chain operations, but its impact extends beyond filling an open position.

When experienced employees leave, organizations often lose years of accumulated knowledge. They lose the understanding behind why processes were designed a certain way, how system exceptions should be handled, and which actions prevent small issues from becoming larger operational problems.

The effects rarely appear overnight. Instead, they show up gradually through longer training periods, increased support requests, inconsistent execution between shifts, and a growing reliance on workarounds. Teams spend more time solving problems that were once handled instinctively by experienced personnel.

In many cases, leaders discover that critical operational knowledge was never formally documented. It existed only through conversations, experience, and routine practice.

Training Is Not a One-Time Event

One of the most common assumptions in supply chain operations is that system training begins and ends during implementation.

The reality is quite different.

Supply chain execution systems continue evolving long after go-live. New functionality is introduced, business processes change, customer requirements shift, and employees move into different roles. At the same time, new team members enter the organization with varying levels of experience and technical knowledge.

Yet many companies continue operating with training materials that haven’t been updated in years.

Think about your smartphone…most people use only a fraction of its capabilities because they learned the basics and never explored further. Supply chain systems often follow the same pattern. Organizations may already own functionality that could improve efficiency, visibility, or decision-making, but employees aren’t aware those capabilities exist.

Continuous education helps ensure teams are not only using the system correctly but also taking advantage of the tools already available to them.

Documentation Is a Competitive Advantage

Documentation may not be the most exciting topic in supply chain operations, but it remains one of the most valuable.

Strong documentation creates consistency across shifts, accelerates onboarding, and reduces dependence on a small group of experts. It provides employees with a reliable reference point and helps organizations maintain operational stability as personnel changes occur.

More importantly, documentation transforms individual knowledge into organizational knowledge.

A simple question can reveal potential risk: If your most experienced employee left tomorrow, what information would leave with them?

If the answer includes critical processes, system configurations, reporting knowledge, or operational decision-making, there is an opportunity to strengthen the organization.

The goal isn’t to document everything. The goal is to ensure that knowledge essential to operational success can be shared, taught, and sustained over time.

Looking Ahead

Technology will continue advancing. Teams will continue changing. Experienced employees will retire, and new employees will enter the workforce.

The organizations best positioned for long-term success won’t simply focus on implementing new technologies. They’ll focus on preserving and developing the knowledge required to use those technologies effectively.

Knowledge transfer, ongoing training, and documentation may not receive the same attention as major technology investments, but they often determine how successful those investments become.

Because at the end of the day, the most important recipe in your operations shouldn’t exist in just one person’s head.