Jan van der Oord
Where the others mainly come from operations, Jan also knows the boardroom: he translates an operational problem into a decision a board can move forward with — and vice versa.
As he sums it up himself: more than thirty years of helping clients improve their operations. Jan worked at Kearney for thirty-three years, where he was a partner from 2001 and, among other roles, Managing Partner for the Benelux and Eastern Europe. Before that he was vice president at Bertelsmann. His field is performance improvement in procurement, supply chain and manufacturing, with twenty years of international experience in Germany and Eastern Europe. Since early 2026 he has been Partner Emeritus, and he works with Supply Today.
Where the others mainly come from operations, Jan also knows the boardroom. That is exactly the combination a transformation needs: someone on the floor who knows what needs to happen, and someone who can explain to a board or shareholder why it costs money and time — and who can handle the conversation when the schedule is under pressure.
At a fresh food processor, he and Ardy Thoonsen led the recovery after a stalled go-live: a 70% productivity improvement in five months and a factory that was profitable again.
Jan, too, has sat on both sides of the table: as a consultant advising boards on their operations, and as vice president at Bertelsmann who had to answer for execution himself. That makes him the person who can translate an operational problem into a decision a board can move forward with — and, conversely, a board decision into what it means on the floor.
