Ad de Groot

Biography

I'm a professional who radiates calm and structure and brings complex challenges back to clear, workable solutions. I have a sharp analytical ability and a well-developed sense of collaboration. Once active as a coach of youth football teams, I learned how important it is to set goals together, bring out the best in people and achieve results as a team. That experience comes through in my current role, where I'm able to connect and motivate teams to actually deliver improvements.

What drives me is the conviction that processes can always be better: faster, more efficient and more sustainable. I combine vision with a pragmatic approach and make improvements concrete and measurable.

Work experience

I'm a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt with broad experience in production, supply chain and maintenance management. My strength lies in analysing and optimising processes, with a proven track record in shortening lead times, improving delivery reliability and increasing productivity.

I've held a variety of roles at leading organisations:

• GVB Railmaterieel – Process improvements in metro maintenance, shortening lead times and organising the deployment of engineers far more efficiently.
• Koni – Redesign of production lines that reduced lead time from three weeks to one day, later developed further to less than one hour.
• Tata Steel – Coaching and guidance within Management of Change programmes, focused on implementing structural improvements.
• Orga – Lead-time reduction to one day, meaning finished-goods stock was no longer necessary and the supply chain became more flexible. I also brought structure and insight to the chain, helping the organisation cope better with the consequences of rapid growth and highly variable demand.

Within UC Group, I use my expertise to help organisations structurally improve their supply chain and production processes, together with fellow partners. My approach is centred on co-creation with teams, often picking up where others stop — leading to solutions that are both practical and widely supported.

Expertise

My expertise lies in supply chain management, process optimisation and operational leadership. I love putting my knowledge to work to take organisations to the next level.