First 100 days in charge of logistics
It is now a bit more than 100 days since Ole Thomsen had his first day as Executive Vice President Logistics. 100 days that have made him wiser and confident about the future.
“I will be asking a lot of questions to learn in the coming months.”
So said new Executive Vice President Logistics Ole Thomsen on 2 June 2022. This was only his second day on the job and in front of him waited a long list of visits, introductions and questions.
During his first 100 days, he has visited all distribution centres (DC’s), has had an internship in the different departments at Distribution Centre Uldum in Denmark, has had a store internship in Viborg, Denmark, and has been introduced to all areas of the business.
“It has been really exciting, and I have been received incredibly well. The first 100 days have given me a lot of insights. I was especially glad to visit all DC’s and meet the management teams and feel their happiness and enthusiasm about proudly showing what they were working with,” says Ole.
New business plan
Besides asking questions and learning a lot, Ole has also been overall responsible for the new business plan in logistics.
“For me, it has been great also to have some more concrete work tasks than just being introduced and feeling that you are taking away people’s time. It has helped me to quickly get into where logistics are heading,” says Ole.
It all culminated in the first week of September 2022, where the management teams from all DC’s were gathered in Brabrand for the kickoff for the financial year 2022-23.
”It was a great opportunity to get a little closer to all of my fantastic colleagues. It is important to share information and get input from all the real logistics experts. Here, we are working with some overall topics, but it is the people on the DC’s that make it all happen,” says Ole.
A strong foundation
The first three months have made Ole confident about the future. He especially highlights the technology that is widely spread to all DC’s, which makes the work more effective, lowers costs for production and offers the ability to learn and share best practice between 10 DC’s.
“I think we have a really strong foundation. The most important thing is that we have the right people, and that I am totally convinced about after my tour round all DC’s. We have a strong logistics setup, which we of course should continue to develop. It gives me a lot of energy,” says Ole.
Some of that energy will in this financial year be spent on improving the communication in logistics. This is a part of the business plan and should make sure that others have a better understanding of logistics and that communication is not only about challenges.
“In logistics, we are often in contact with others, when something goes wrong, and if you are only in contact with people when something is wrong, then you get a bad connection. We should be better at telling that a lot of things go well, and if not then there is often a good explanation. If we do not tell that, it will be misunderstood and create unnecessary frustrations,” says Ole.
A lot to come
In this financial year, Ole should also secure a successful flip for the three German DC’s to the IT system that all other DC’s are running. Furthermore, the global market also still requires a lot of attention with high energy prices, war in Ukraine, inflation etc.
“There is no need for me to make a shift in direction. We have good people everywhere, and it is my overall responsibility to make the people work together as teams and secure that also in the future, it will be fun to go to work. By that I am sure we will be able to continue to deliver both goods and good results,” says Ole.
