Nic Dufoort - Hands-on leadership in planning: S&OP, systems, and people

In this episode, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ben⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Wim⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ talk to ⁠⁠Nic Dufoort⁠⁠, who brings over 25 years of experience across operations and supply chain leadership roles in sectors like furniture, lighting, and food. He currently leads the supply chain function at ⁠Poppies Bakeries⁠, a global dessert producer, where he built the department from scratch and established a more structured planning approach.

Nic shares his path from plant manager to supply chain leader, reflecting on the evolution of supply chain as a standalone function and the importance of being independent from operations, finance, or sales to truly balance cost, capital, and service.

He emphasizes hands-on leadership, literally joining planners or operators to experience pain points firsthand, and explains how to implement S&OP starting from Excel before transitioning into more advanced tooling.

Key topics covered include:

• Career evolution: from operations to supply chain leadership
• Building a supply chain department from scratch
• Why supply chain should be independent from operations
• Balancing the service/cost/capital triangle
• Hands-on leadership and change management
• Piloting S&OP in Excel before scaling
• Transitioning to SAP and demand planning systems
• Career advice for young professionals
• Books and resources that shaped his thinking

Key timestamps:

• (01:00) – Early career in engineering and plant management
• (03:07) – Shift to planning and supply chain at Unilin
• (04:18) – Transition to Delta Light and leading an SAP implementation
• (05:15) – Moving into food industry at Jules Destrooper and Poppies
• (06:00) – Why supply chain should not sit under operations
• (06:43) – Applying the service-cost-capital triangle in practice
• (07:54) – Establishing supply chain as its own function at Poppies
• (08:21) – Evolution of supply chain maturity over 25 years
• (10:39) – Early steps toward S&OP and demand-supply balancing
• (11:58) – Turnaround story at Decru using cost visibility and task targets
• (16:00) – Building credibility through hands-on engagement
• (17:58) – Applying hands-on approach in planning teams too
• (20:03) – Building SNOP from Excel, then scaling to Arkieva with Solventure
• (22:52) – Justifying the move from Excel to systems
• (24:44) – SME vs. multinational: what younger professionals should know
• (26:05) – Advice: take time, go deep, think in terms of impact
• (26:45) – Favorite resources: Bram Desmet books and the value of an MBA

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