FrieslandCampina’s Joost Donkers named as Supply Chain Professional 2018

Joost Donkers

Joost Donkers has become the new ambassador for the Dutch supply chain management discipline. The Director of End2End Supply Chain in FrieslandCampina’s Ingredients Business Group was named as winner of the Supply Chain Professional of the Year 2018 award on Wednesday 20 June. In the battle for the title he was up against two other finalists: Mark van Abeelen from Ricoh Europe SCM and Hans Omvlee from Bunge Loders Croklaan.

Head judge Jack van der Veen, Professor of Supply Chain Management at Nyenrode Business Universiteit, described all three finalists as top-class candidates who have each delivered outstanding performances within their own context. “Joost Donkers from FrieslandCampina has been voted Supply Chain Professional of 2018 because he demonstrates lots of initiative, is a strong communicator and has an appealing story which allows room for his own personality, enabling him to achieve impressive results. He is good at connecting people both within and outside of the company, is a co-creator and is there for his team without losing sight of himself.”

Upon receiving the trophy, Joost Donkers thanked the six judges for their probing – and sometimes even a little intimidating – questions during the assessments. “I’m immensely proud of what we’ve achieved with our team and I’m delighted to gain recognition for all of that in the shape of this award. But the questions from my supply chain peers today have also made me realize that we’ve still got a long way to go. Although I might have managed to answer the questions during the final, I often thought to myself, ‘Maybe we could improve this’. Our business unit comprises a team of 3,000 people, and the entire team can take pride in this result. That team includes the people who, at three o’ clock in the morning, decide whether a product is safe or not and whether or not the manufacturing activities can continue. It’s those kinds of people who really matter.”

In addition to the perpetual trophy plus a small trophy to keep, Donkers won a cultural awareness workshop by DNA Languages, and sponsor PwC gave the whole team the chance to participate in a digital supply chain management game.

The Supply Chain Professional award

Since 2008, the Supply Chain Professional award has been organized annually by Supply Chain Media in conjunction with Inspired-Search – for the recruitment of candidates – and BLMC for the assessment of the finalists. This year, for the first time, the final was held at Fort Vechten, which is situated along the old Hollandic Water Line water-based defence system close to Bunnik. In the fort’s vaults, supply chain peers and members of the jury interrogated the three finalists in round-table discussions about leadership, strategy and processes.

The jury

The six members of the jury were Jack van der Veen (Professor of Supply Chain Management at Nyenrode Business Universiteit), Ilse van Koetsveld (Supply Chain Transformation Director at Wessanen), Anouk Wissink (Operational Director at Koninklijke Vezet), Perry Buenen (Senior Vice President Canon Business Operations EMEA at Canon Europe), Jeroen Eijsten (Commercial Manager at Baarsma Wine Group) and Michel van Buren (Director of BLMC).

Previous winners

In 2018, Supply Chain Media and BLMC organized the Supply Chain Professional of the Year award for the eleventh consecutive year. The previous winners are:
• 2017 – Anouk Wissink, Operational Director, Koninklijke Vezet
• 2016 – Jeroen Eijsten, Director of Supply Chain, Compass Group
• 2015 – Edgar Beers, Director of Global Supply Chain & CPO, Vanderlande Industries
• 2014 – Jeroen van Weesep, Vice President of Supply and Inventory Management Europe/Asia, Lego
• 2013 – Allison Thomas, Supply Chain Director Benelux, PepsiCo Netherlands
• 2012 – Erik Botter, Director of Purchasing & Logistics, Pearle Benelux
• 2011 – Frank Schaapveld, Senior Director of Supply Chain EMEA, Medtronic
• 2010 – Erik Bouwer, Director of Supply Chain Management North-West Europe, Perfetti Van Melle
• 2009 – John van Dongen, Director of Demand Flow Planning & Scheduling Europe, Electrolux
• 2008 – Edwin van der Meerendonk, Vice President of European Operations, Walt Disney