He's no high-priced computer consultant or programmer. McKesson hired those from EDS, the computer services giant. What Bennett, a receiving clerk with 41 years at McKesson, and his fellow warehouse workers did was to bring their considerable practical experience to bear on developing a small scanner-equipped computer they now use to fill orders. Each device communicates by radio with an IBM minicomputer, tracking the exact location and status of 18,000 different items stored in the building's vast expanse. They just put it in.
Many workers are suspicious of new technology, even hostile to it.
Bennett does not even own a calculator. It's a truism that information technology will reshape virtually every company that survives the 1990s. But it can't reshape yours if you don't find some way to make your workers comfortable with computers. Companies committed to using technology to increase efficiency and speed are finding they can introduce the most sophisticated electronic tools to almost any work force. But it takes a lot of forethought and planning, even a measure of humility among managers.