Seven cases. Problem, action, result.

Context

A network failure hit deliveries from our largest luxury client to its stores in the Nordics. Delays and losses piled up. Our KPI fell to 76%, far below target.

Action

We already ran an airbridge to the Nordics through an external supplier for another customer. I proposed to use it. I got buy-in from senior management, sales, operations and customer engineering. Then I set up the first mile from the production sites to the airports: timing, trucks, rates with suppliers, and aircraft capacity for our goods. With operations and IT, I updated the labelling for the new routing.

Result

On time delivery reached 98%, above target. The plan ran from March to June until standard operations came back. The client then chose to keep it for good, and we used it again at Christmas peak with the same results.

Context

A global manufacturer of industrial equipment received goods from across Europe at its warehouse near Grenoble. Its receiving process was strict. Drivers waited in an airlock and checked each delivery note with the client's team.

A multi-drop network driver could not spend that time on one stop. So the check was done the day before at our small local depot, and parcels travelled from our regional hub near Lyon to that depot. Some were lost on the way. On time delivery sat around 65% and the client was unhappy. The case came to my desk three months after I joined as supervisor.

Action

I analysed several months of flows: volumes, parcel counts, weights, daily variations. The volume was steady enough for one vehicle a day. I designed a dedicated flow with a subcontractor near Lyon, in three steps. A pre-alert the day before, so the driver knew what to expect. A direct pickup at the hub, which removed the depot transfer and saved a full day. And a dedicated driver with time to complete the check on site.

I went on site with sales, both operations teams and the subcontractor. We negotiated the rates, set the cut-off times, and I presented the solution to the client.

Result

On time delivery rose from around 65% to 91%. Lost parcels between depots stopped. The account stayed with us, and the solution is still running almost ten years later.

Context

During COVID, a healthcare client had to move goods from its production site to 80 hospitals across France. Deadlines required same day or early morning deliveries.

Action

We built milk runs by region with four suppliers covering France. We planned around dangerous goods rules, vehicle capacity and driving restrictions. Hospitals receive 24/7, so my team and I monitored deliveries late into the night.

Result

96% of hospitals were delivered on time. The operation was invoiced €150,000 over two working days, with a healthy gross margin.

Context

A ready-to-wear prospect needed to ship from its production line in Spain to consumers across France in two days at most.

Action

I combined external and internal resources. Full truckloads ran from Spain to a FedEx hub near the border, and the FedEx network delivered across France the next day. I sourced FTL carriers able to load in Spain and drive straight to the hub, within driving rules and station cut-offs. The hard part was finding a hub willing to absorb a large volume at short notice. After several meetings, we wrote an SOP that added ground staff at set times.

Result

92% on time delivery, on target. The operation ran three times, in March 2019, September 2019 and March 2020. In total about 45,000 parcels and close to €290,000 in revenue, with a high gross margin.

Context

In June 2017 the NotPetya cyberattack hit TNT. Systems were down for weeks: no tracking, no inventory visibility. Clients were nervous and some looked at competitors.

Action

We moved the whole team to manual work. Shipments were tracked on paper and in Excel. People called clients from their own phones, some on personal laptops. We went to the warehouses to help sort and clear the backlog.

One day, a construction equipment maker needed a critical part in the UK urgently. Without IT, nobody could find it in the warehouse. I had worked there four years and knew the layout. I searched the racks for 90 minutes, found it, drove it 20 km to our hub in my own car, and booked a dedicated vehicle to the UK the same day.

Result

The part arrived on schedule. We kept operations running for weeks without systems and did not lose a single client.

Context

COVID cut our volumes overnight, with a real risk of losing clients for good. I was asked to find solutions for clients and for the company. I was also put in charge of supplying masks and medical equipment to all FedEx staff in France, at a time when these goods were scarce.

Action

Stores, platforms and head offices closed, so we secured goods in temporary storage until they reopened. For clients still operating, I built custom solutions: direct vehicles, AOG services and on board couriers.

Result

We kept all our clients. The medical supplies reached every FedEx team member in France without a single complaint. This work earned me the FedEx Rising Star Award.

Context

FedEx deployed SPOTS worldwide, a new end to end platform for Special Services covering quoting, track and trace, invoicing and proof of delivery.

Action

I was a core member of the project team, then led the on-site rollout in France and delivered the staff training sessions.

Result

Management credited the training I delivered as crucial to the success of the rollout in Special Services France, and recognised it with a Bravo Zulu Award.