About Paul van der Helm
My Story
Paul van der Helm (1969) is a bit of a polymath, with a broad range of talents and interests. Always a curious and avid learner, he obtained a Masters degree in Business Economics and an MBA from RSM at Erasmus University Rotterdam. When he’s not catching up on the latest in supply chain management and business in general, he likes to read up on history, technology, leadership & coaching, as well as macro-economic and socio-political developments.
Paul is also a sports nut. In his younger years he played table tennis in the Dutch national leagues, and later on he dabbled in squash, tennis, football, and baseball. He did a lot of running when he lived and worked in the US, and competed in the Hood to Coast 200-mile relay run twice. Currently he spends most of his free time on the mountain bike, while still playing some tennis, and golf when he can. Winters are not complete without going skiing for a week(end), at least.
Professionally, Paul was of course very excited when he landed a role at #1 sports company Nike. Little did he know that he would spend over 20 years there, climbing the ranks and learning everything there is to know about supply chains, planning and logistics. From the best, as for the last 10 years global research and advisory firm Gartner has put Nike in their annual Supply Chain Top 25!
In 1999, Paul set up a new capacity planning function in the department, to align the company’s supply needs across all categories and business lines, with their 3rd party manufacturing partners. It created a significantly better delivery performance, with more control over the prioritization of supply. Around the same time, he was getting increasingly involved in Nike’s strategic Supply Chain program (NSC), tasked with implementing SAP as its first non-proprietary ERP system. In 2001, Paul was promoted to Director of Apparel Demand Planning, effectively also becoming Europe’s business process owner for implementing i2 as the new Demand Planning (and Supply Planning) tool for Nike. It was his first major role in designing and implementing new processes and systems for the business, and many similar projects would follow.
In 2003, Paul made a lateral move to manage the planning and operations of two key categories, Women’s Sportswear ($300 million) and White Label (high-end fashion). A dynamic, hands-on role for two fast-growing lines of business. In 2006, Paul moved back into strategy development and execution when he became the first Director of the Planning Center of Excellence. A team of 11, it was responsible for aligning strategy, prioritizing, managing and completing projects, process optimization, and all reporting and information related activities, including leading the performance management reviews. In 2007 the team was part of introducing LEAN philosophy and practices into Nike, and in 2008 Paul spearheaded the process integration of the three product engines (Footwear, Apparel, and Equipment). Both initiatives were very complex, culturally, and significant transition management achievements.
Around the same time, Paul enrolled for a 2-year Executive MBA program, back at his alma mater, as RSM was recognized as a top 5 school in Europe for its MBA program. Started with a great amount of energy and dedication in January 2007, in a very diverse, international group of 100+ students, and supported by his wife, Ciska, and their two young children, he completed all the course requirements in December 2008.
In hindsight the timing was great, as Nike went through a large reorganization in 2009, and it created an excellent opportunity for Paul at Nike’s corporate headquarters in the US. On January 2nd, 2010, the young family of four boarded the plane to Portland, Oregon, that would take them on a 4.5 year adventure, both personally and professionally. Paul landed a role as Global Process Director for Demand Planning and Inventory Management, making him responsible for driving the 3-5 year strategy for the function, in collaboration with the functional leaders in the 5 geographies (North America, EMEA, Greater China, Japan, and the Emerging Markets).
As part if this role he initiated the Planning Transformation program that would completely overhaul Nike’s planning processes between 2011 and 2016, including a move to SAP APO, and the adoption of Tableau as a data visualization tool. Also, Paul personally led the re-engineering of Nike’s global inventory management process, taking it off Excel, and creating global end-to-end visibility to inventory forecasts, risks and decisions.
As his second role in Nike’s World HQ in Beaverton, OR, Paul assumed responsibility for Global Planning and Fulfillment Operations of Nike’s Digital Sport business, a small but mission-critical business with C-level oversight. The team developed the Nike+ platform that is still the basis for Nike’s direct interaction with consumers today and is driving much of its overall growth.
Among other things Paul set up the (executive) S&OP process for Digital Sport, and also onboarded and aligned supply chain operations with Apple (Digital and B&M), as a new distribution channel for the FuelBand SE.
In 2014, the family returned to the Netherlands. Paul got promoted to a challenging role, to lead all Operations for the Central & Eastern Europe geography, a constellation of 32 countries, grouped into 7 regions. The team included 7 direct reports, and >100 people in the extended team. 70% of the business was conducted outside of the EU, involving 3 satellite warehouses (in Russia, Turkey and Israel), multiple 3PL providers, and several distribution partners in the Middle East. The role provided an opportunity to deep dive into distribution, logistics, customer service, and some retail operations (for factory stores), next to driving strategy for the function and the geography, and sponsoring projects and talent management programs.
Towards 2018, Paul seized the opportunity to leave Nike and enjoy a sabbatical for about a year, allowing him to reflect on his purpose, strengths and interests, and plans for the future. During this period, based on many networking conversations, the first seeds for VDH Consulting were planted. Although it wasn’t until October 2019 that the company was founded. In between came the opportunity to join Breitling at its headquarters in Switzerland, to lead the firm’s sales planning and operations. An exiting move, as the renowned watch brand was exploring a new growth strategy, since a 2017 private equity takeover, after having been a family business for 133 years. Yet, a few unforeseen issues prompted Paul to return to the Netherlands earlier than expected.
It did of course open up the opportunity to get started with VDH Consulting, and the rest is history!
