Requirements Before Technology: Define the Problem Before Buying the Solution

The fastest way to buy the wrong logistics technology is to begin with the technology. Yet that is still how too many programs start: a new TMS, WMS, control tower, yard platform, AI initiative, or automation project. The solution enters the room before the operating requirement has been defined.
The problem is not that any of these technologies are bad ideas. The problem is that the solution has entered the conversation before the requirement has been defined. Systems engineering reverses that