What challenges do you face?

"Middle management not supporting our new strategy"

I hear this very often from clients! It seems to be the number 1 challenge. Your team has experience and in the past developed a proven way to deliver results. New strategies require different goals, behaviors, incentives and sometimes skillsets. Your team might be struggling with how they can support the new way forward. I can support you in shaping the right conversations, setting mutual and individual goals and applying leadership skill enhancements.

"Slow growth, no growth, margins falling"

Metal demand in Germany has been in decline since 2019 and it is noticeable to us all in production, distribution and processing. After a period of growth over several decades, we are facing an inevitable challenge. Experience and longstanding sales relationships are not sufficient to counter this trend. Rather, it requires new approaches based on data insights (CRM), new technology (e-commerce) and a sophisticated SCM (supply chain management) to provide the best service to your clients in the future and to remain profitable.

"Not enough efficiency gain after Lean implementation"

Many companies have taken the Lean Production route, and rightfully so. After overcoming initial hurdles with training and tools, gains in productivity were achieved. However, many clients run into an invisible wall after 1-2 years. Progress slows down and the Lean method is called into question. To complement the Lean approach, enhanced leadership capabilities are indispensable. Are the decision-makers on all levels acting as problem-solving facilitators? Often this is not the case, so that new skills have to be acquired. Teams of the future need augmented facilitation skills, that leaders on all levels can acquire.

Your support in disruptive times

Today’s business environment in metal/steel production, processing and distribution is very challenging! The black swans have landed and turned our world upside down, forcing us to execute new strategies much quicker than before. Among those are refocussing your sales team, reorganizing your supply chain or restructuring the organization or pushing for mergers & acquisitions. The current situation may drive you to forge new strategies and you are counting on your team to execute these well and promptly.

This is where I come into play. The metal and steel industry's been my home turf for 35 years which means, I can immediately engage with you. My experience and the new tools that I bring, will lead to new insights and identify hurdles/pain points/hindrances, so that you can chart the best way forward for your company.

As CEO I lead multiple business transformations in the past 15 years in Europe and the U.S. , having lead companies ranging from 400 to 4.000 people. The methods and experience can be applied to many other industries as well. Business transformations performed with my teams included restructuring during the financial crisis, reshaping the sales strategy for better growth in a saturated market, implementing CRM and SCM tools to increase insights and margin, restructuring a supply network and implementing Lean Production to increase efficiency and starting and growing an e-commerce channel for metal distribution.

Since 2021 I provide my services as a consultant and coach supporting leaders to navigate their transformations with their teams Are you open to a new perspective?

Services for you and your team

Strategy and Goals

Reviewing or enhancing your strategy with Lafley & Martin (2014) guided by 4 questions:
1.) Where do we play?
2.) How do we win?
3.) What capabilities do we need?
4.) What management systems do we need?

Culture of Execution

Measuring your "Culture of execution" with the Denison survey:
- Mission: How well understood are vision and strategy?
- Consistency: How consistent is decision making?
- Involvement: How well is the team involved?
- Adaptability: How strong is the customer focus?

Team Engagement

Team dynamics can be improved understanding personality types. We all have different perceptions of the world around us. CoreStrengths / SDI provides a great model for teams to understand each other better and be more empathetic to improve psychological safety and increase team performance.

Leadership Coaching

As a leader you're strongly committed to your duties and your team. While you're striving for the best outcome of your strategy, your reflection can enhance your performance and wellbeing. This is the support I can provide as a certified coach working on your strengths, goals and gaps to drive personal growth and balance.

Transformation Projects Performed

Warehouse with digital sales tools on mobile phone

Transformation in Sales

2017, Metal Distribution, USA

30 locations, 1.400 employees, 40.000 products

Customer Centric Agile Omni Channel Approach

Implemented management system

Clear objectives on all levels

Realigned sales objectives and sales management/process

Implement CRM (Salesforce)

Implement weekly sales reviews with automated reports

Implemented B2B portal (e-commerce)

Realigned sales incentives with new process/goals

Transformation in Supply Chain

2018, Metal Distribution, USA

30 locations, 1.400 employees, 40.000 products
Build a model and ran simulations of whole SCM
(30 locations, 40.000 products)
Redesigned supply chain and storage network
Reduced number of locations
Selected forecasting software
Automated forecasting for purchasing of 40,000 articles
Centralized and automated purchasing process