Logistics Manager of the Year: who are the nominees?

The winner of the Logistic Manager of the Year award will be announced on 23 March. There are still three nominees in the race: Eric Ermstrang, Carin Hendriksen and Iwan te Winkel. Who are they and what do they excel in? In three videos they introduce themselves.

This year's election of Logistics Manager of the Year revolves around the theme 'Logistics as Game Changer'. The Logistics Manager of the Year Foundation believes that logistics can serve as a Unique Selling Point within a company. The foundation believes that the three finalists have shown that logistics can be used strategically. In the videos below, they introduce themselves.

Eric Ermstrang (45) - director Global Transportation at Philips Healthcare
Eric Ermstrang takes care of the worldwide delivery of medical equipment at Philips Healthcare. It is precisely the international touch that provides the necessary challenges. "In India, they unload trucks with elephants, while in Western countries it is very different." Nevertheless, at Philips, Ermstrang chose to tackle the chain in a unified way. This not only reduced costs, but also significantly reduced customer complaints.

Carin Hendriksen (46) - Manager manufacturing and warehouse operations
Carin Hendriksen does not originally come from logistics, but was familiar with implementing Lean in Omron's factory. Omron decided to apply her skills in Lean to the logistics department as well. After all, a radical change was needed there to stay future-proof. "That's where I just started changing, at the basics," she says. And that change, paid off. Within three years, productivity was improved by 60 per cent. In addition, direct costs per order line reduced by 30 per cent. "At the end of the day, that's when people outside the organisation notice that we do things differently from most other companies."

Iwan te Winkel (41) - Director of Logistics at Raab Karcher
Iwan te Winkel also managed to distinguish himself with Raab Karcher by implementing Lean. With the logistics concept Leanworks, the distribution of materials to the building site was approached differently. Whereas cost was the main concern in the past, the focus is now on making the construction process as efficient as possible. For example, Raab Karcher ensures that materials from third parties are brought to the construction site. This is necessary because 30 per cent of transport is currently construction-related. "We don't want to consider logistics only as a cost item, but to be distinctive in the market by taking care of the logistics."

Editorial LogistiekProfs