Durham University

VLEKHO Business School Brussels

Université Pierre Mendès-France (Grenoble II)

North Sea Flying Club (Noordzee Vliegclub)

A.P. Moller-Maersk

Various Institutes & training centers 

OLVO Oostende (Secondary Education)

Director @ Unilode Aviation Solutions │ Board Member | Southeast Asia based | Multi-disciplinary background in the Aviation, Logistics & Travel industry │ Citizen of the world | Private Pilot

Globally driving commercial operations and customer experience for approx. 40 MRO accounts worldwide, mainly in the airline portfolio (e.g. Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Air New Zealand, United Airlines, AF-KLM, Qatar Airways, etc). Other segments we diversified into are players in the logistics/forwarding (e.g. DHL) and the pharma/cold chain industry (Envirotainer, Sonoco, etc). We build a bridge between our customers and Unilode, including programme management, contract life cycle management, customer success, tender management, performance management and business development. 
I coordinated the entry into the Chinese market by setting up an operational facility in Beijing in less than one month. I was additionally ad interim the line responsible for our stations in Singapore, Mumbai and Beijing, 

Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, Unilode Aviation Solutions manages as market leader the world’s largest outsourced fleet of ULDs, owns the largest global network for the maintenance & repair of containers, pallets and inflight food service equipment and offers digital services (e.g. track & trace).

Unilode Aviation Solutions

Director of Global Commercial Operations & Customer Experience | Board Member 

Country management for the Ahlers branch in Singapore with people & P&L responsibility in combination with a Business Development focus for the South-East Asia region. 

Ahlers (approx. 850 staff) is a Belgian family-owned logistics organisation with offices in Europe, Russia/CIS/Baltic States, India, China and South-East Asia. The organisation is set up around 4 business units: Sustainable Supply Chain Solutions, Projects & Machinery Logistics, Trade Facilitation and High Value cargo.

Ahlers

Country Director Ahlers Singapore 

Commercial Manager - Supplier Management & Procurement (@TUI Aviation)

- End-to-end global procurement lead for Ground/Flight Operations (incl. high risk/spend contracts of >10 million EUR).
- Develop supplier management, industry relations and subject matter expertise.
- Develop, report and steer operational/supplier management information to understand and improve operations, customer satisfaction as well as operational cost & revenue levels.
- Project Management: e.g. transitioning towards a central inflight supply chain or starting up new destinations.
- Internal consultancy (e.g. improvement project within Kolavia/Metrojet for TUI Russia) and work stream leadership as part of looking into synergies between the 5 TUI owned airlines, resulting in an umbrella “One Aviation” entity.
- Vice-Chairman of the Brussels Airport Users Committee.
- Reality experience with Emergency/Contingency Response Management.

Business Performance & Contracting Manager  (@TUI Airlines Belgium)

- Managed the scope of Ground Handling, In-Flight Services, Airport Customer Service, Cargo Management and Refuelling Service Delivery for our entire network (100+ destinations).
- Led a department in terms of people management (approx. 50 team members) and cost control.
- Ensured/improved smooth, safe and seamless airport operations & travel experiences.
- Accountability for Ground Operations towards the Belgian Civil Aviation Authorities.
- Vice-Chairman of the Airport Operators Committee (AOC).

Ground Operations Manager & Postholder (@TUI Airlines Belgium)

I managed 3 key clients (Wolverine, Hema and Overland) in an Asian-European scope to deliver the targets in terms of CM1, customer satisfaction, additional business revenues and cost savings. I held P&L responsibility for a portfolio of around 1 million EUR. 

Focus was on driving operational excellence, maintaining senior relationships (including customer visit to Asia), optimising their supply chain, assisting our sales department with the detection and development of sales leads, applying the PEX methodology, fine-tuning internal & external operating procedures (SOP's), project management, meeting KPI’s and system implementations.

A.P. Moller - Maersk

Client Development Manager (@ Maersk Logistics)

The second position I held during my expatriation in China was that of Customer Service Manager, co-responsible for managing the supply chain, customer service and operational excellence of the Target Corporation out of South China, representing approximately 40% of their global direct import volumes. Target is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, after Walmart. 

I managed a team of around 40 people, acted as deputy to the Department Head and actively participated in the branch management team, knowing that Shenzhen was our largest branch worldwide with its more than 850 employees. 

I was also appointed Chairman of the Leadership Committee, organising talent development/retention and leadership workshops/initiatives impacting more than 300 people. 

In addition I had P&L responsibility for Business Development/Local Sales and was involved in the SAP implementation in our branch.

Customer Service Manager Shenzhen Branch (@ Maersk Logistics)

Upon the succesfull completion of the Maersk M.I.S.E. Management Trainee Programme, I was expatriated to our Maersk Logistics branch office in Shenzhen, China.

As Deputy Manager for Customer Service & Client Management I was allocated two global key clients: Target (US Retailer) and Maxeda (a Dutch investment group holding brands such as Hema, V&D, Brico, Bijenkorf, Hunkemoller). It was my responsibility to supervise all our pan-Asian operations teams in over 20 locations in meeting the standards set forward by our clients, who produce their goods in Asia and wish to ship it to Europe and the US. I acted as the daily entry point for our clients for any escalation at operational or tactical level related to their Asian sourcing and supply chain. Additional time was spent on internal and external (KPI) reporting, organising/hosting client visits to Asia, system implementation, procedures and process management, project management and improvement plans.

Deputy Manager pan-Asia Client Management Target & Maxeda (@ Maersk Logistics)

3 rotations of 8 months each in Belgium as part of the M.I.S.E. Management Traineeship (details see at the Education section). 

1st Rotation: Client Coordinator (Maersk Logistics)
Client Coordinator for our worldwide key client Nike at their European Distribution Headquarter. Responsible to assist, manage and monitor our Asian origin offices (>20 teams) so they would adhere to all requirements agreed with Nike in arranging their supply chain from Asia into Europe. I improved operational excellence - and the measurement hereof - through the establishment and monitoring of SOP's and KPI’s, and by tackling structural issues. Maintaining a smooth relationship with one of our global key clients was both a goal and consequence as well.  

2nd Rotation: Trade Finance Analyst (Safmarine Headquarter)
Worked on financial reporting at Route & Service level, Monthly NOPS production, budgeting, ad hoc financial reports & analysis, agency agreements, bunkering and financial systems. 

3rd Rotation: Assistant Project Manager (APM Terminals)
Participated in the construction and promotion of a newly built state-of-the-art APMT terminal in Zeebrugge, Belgium Assisted the Project Manager and Management Team and independently managed terminal construction related projects from planning to execution and follow-up, within an agreed framework of cost, time and detail.

M.I.S.E. Management Trainee

A 2-month internship as part of my degree during which I assisted the Corporate Finance team of Daikin Europe NV (leading Japanese firm in Air Conditioning) with implementing Activity Based Costing (ABC) in their organisation.

Bart Adriaens