Best-in-class companies in every sector are enabling growth through efficient supply chains and understand that innovation and low costs are continuously transforming their global operations. Leaders in this space are agile, move fast, operate at low cost, and produce high-quality products that customers want.

Boyden connects clients with innovative business leaders who demonstrate functional excellence in the end-to-end supply chain function and the logistics sector. Typically they are corporate functional experts in:

• Supply Chain Management and Planning – We recruit from a large network of executives who have the experience and knowledge to arrange and create a company’s logistics and operational architecture, from supplier to manufacturers to customers.
• Innovation and R&D – We tap into top R&D leaders who know how to convert brilliant ideas into commercially viable products. They work in organizations that create innovative and well-engineered products. These innovation leaders also understand how to satisfy today’s customer in very fast-moving technology and commercial products markets.
• Procurement and Sourcing – Procurement has evolved into a game-changing function, and procurement leaders are strategic business partners in the C-suite who enable company growth. Tackling costs has always been pivotal, and the need for true leaders who can create new solutions and deliver continuous annual cost savings remains a priority for all procurement professionals who manage budgetary and financial details.
• Distribution, Logistics and Customer Service – The best talent in this area knows that superb service levels are essential in today’s fast-moving, customer-centric world. They use data analytics to support the entire supply chain, meet customer expectations and control costs. We know the expert talent that demonstrates responsiveness to customers and ensures best-in-class delivery and a reliable customer experience.

We work across all industry sectors – with international organizations, large mid-market companies and niche players – drawing upon our own experience and insight into different business models, supply chain and logistics concepts, supply chain digitization and manufacturing processes, as well as diverse corporate cultures.

The logistics industry itself, as a key external player in the operations value chain, acts as a strategic partner for companies across all other industries and provides a wide range of services and solutions, standalone or closely interlocked with the supply chains of their customers. This sophisticated portfolio of services is highly tailored to the specific needs of each individual customer, but can be grouped by different approaches, for example:

• Modes of transport (road, air, rail, sea, inland shipping)
• Execution activities (CEP, piece cargo, etc.)
• Business sector (food, textiles, chemicals, automotive, etc.)
• Special logistics solutions / smart logistics (contract logistics, warehousing, etc.)

This also results in high demand for excellent managers and experts in a broad spectrum of functions, ranging from C-level to country / regional head to head of operational excellence and contract logistics, operations manager, head of digital innovation and the like.

In both supply chain and logistics, a strong driver of innovation and future developments is the very fast IT development track driven by digitization. This ignites not only the separate developments taking place in each area, but to an even greater extent, fuels the much stronger cross-linking between them enabled by big data, improved analytics, seamless data streams, etc. Smart logistics 4.0 and the evolving executive population are helping to create the next-generation supply chain. The correct approach to digitizing supply chains is to integrate technology with revamped operations and leaders who are familiar with a transformation approach.

In an increasingly globalized world, clients engage us to find the right C-suite leaders, operations directors, revenue managers, regional and country heads and senior managers with specific expertise and experience in driving the conceptual and operational implementation of digitized supply chain management and logistics. Leaders who demonstrate functional excellence in this space can assess the supply chain’s current state, establish a vision for the future, and develop a transformation roadmap.

Across all industries, our bespoke search teams help clients implement digitization strategies, leveraging our global subsector, digital and cybersecurity expertise. We work on traditional roles such as chief supply chain officer and chief logistics officer, as well as evolving roles, such as senior expert logistics planning and heads of innovation management logistics, SC digitization and global strategic solutions.

We focus on consultative relationships, through which we provide advice, share best practices, and create leadership solutions with few off-limits restrictions. Each client has a lead partner who is personally committed to leveraging the full global resources of Boyden to deliver outstanding service and results.