A fast-scaling third-party logistics provider was opening three new distribution centers in a single year but lacked the operational leadership to standardize processes, control labor costs, and protect margins during rapid expansion.
We targeted operators with multi-site contract logistics experience and a track record of launching greenfield facilities. Our finalist had stood up six DCs at a national competitor and brought a playbook for standard work, WMS rollout, and frontline retention.
Winning new contracts had never been the company's problem — delivering on them at scale was. Tripling its footprint in a single year exposed the absence of repeatable operating standards, and every new site risked importing the last one's mistakes.
Leadership needed an operator who had built networks before, not one who would learn on the client's dime during the most fragile stretch of the company's history.
We concentrated on contract-logistics operators with proven greenfield launch experience across multiple sites. Finalists were evaluated on the systems they left behind — labor-management standards, WMS discipline, and frontline retention — rather than the size of the P&L they had merely inherited.
The new VP of Operations brought discipline to a company growing faster than its processes could handle. Each of the three distribution centers opened on schedule, standard work and a common WMS rollout drove labor cost per unit down 18%, and branch profitability climbed 40% as the network professionalized.
Client company and placed candidate identities are withheld to protect the confidentiality of our retained search engagements.
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