An international family-owned dairy and tapas company, operating multiple production sites in northwestern Europe and owned by private equity, was facing a strategic redesign of its supply chain. Strong growth ambitions were accompanied by rising costs, particularly in transportation, and pressure on quality and service levels. The organization decided to spin off its transportation activities as part of a broader supply chain transformation, with the aim of reducing costs and improving performance.
Leading up to this transition, we first managed the internal supply chain and transportation organization, with direct responsibility for a team of approximately 100 FTE. In parallel, major improvements were made in S&OP, forecasting and planning in order to better control both costs and quality. Intensive stakeholder management towards internal departments, customers and shareholders ensured alignment and support. From this basis, we guided the organization in the transition to an outsourced transport model, including selection of logistics partners and setting up governance and performance monitoring.
The result is a structural cost reduction, with savings of approximately €1 million per year on transportation. At the same time, the grip on raw material supply and resource planning has been greatly improved, with higher delivery performance (OTIF) and retention of quality. The successful outsourcing of transport activities now forms the basis for a future-proof supply chain organization, with better control, more transparency and a solid foundation for further growth and operational excellence.
