Ardy Thoonsen
Takes on a programme in its entirety: business case, mechanisation, WMS and ERP, (re)building, organisation and KPIs, until it has been handed over to the permanent organisation.
Ardy has sat on both sides of the table. At DHL Nedlloyd he was director of food distribution in the Benelux and regional director in Germany, where he reduced the branch network and led the integration with a German distributor; as a member of the divisional board he was also responsible for Austria, Portugal, Turkey and Greece. As a partner at KPMG and Boer & Croon he advised boards on supply chain and logistics issues and set up European distribution centres. He started his own firm out of a single wish: not only to help clients design, but also to implement. More than thirty years later, that is still his role — lead transformation manager, taking on a programme in its entirety: business case, mechanisation, WMS and ERP, (re)building, organisation and KPIs, until it has been handed over to the permanent organisation.
At a European textile retail chain with 1,300 stores, he led the programme for the mechanisation and expansion of the distribution centre for four and a half years: from the choice between new build and conversion and the business case, through the selection of and negotiation with system integrators and WMS suppliers, to the detailed logistics design, the test organisation for software and mechanisation, the go-live with hypercare, and a new management structure with working procedures and KPIs — including construction coordination and the steering group’s expectations. Jaap Eikelboom was responsible in that programme for the entire IT landscape and system integration.
At a fresh food processor that had merged four sites into one highly automated factory, the operation slumped after go-live — not because the technology could not do the job, but because confidence in it was lacking. Ardy brought together the team that stabilised the operation: a 70% productivity improvement in five months and a company that was profitable again.
Other work includes the production and logistics footprint of an international manufacturer of heavy machinery (2.5 years), a major cost-reduction programme at a meat producer (2 years), and a new distribution structure for a supermarket chain.
He works with the client’s teams — local management and often young professionals — sharp on the details and with the big picture in mind. Challenging and coaching, with humour to take the tension out when needed. His experience lets him see obstacles coming well in advance, and he stays calm at moments of great pressure. And those moments come in every project.
