From Business Controller to Logistics Engineer: Fabrice's Kuehne + Nagel story

15 minutes driving from the Waterloo monument that celebrates the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1815, you can find our Contract Logistics site of Nivelles. Each visitor is greeted at the gate by security, stern-looking but friendly men that decide who can enter the site covering more than 74 000sqm of warehousing space. Before letting me through, the guard hands me a map indicating the way to the ‘SEC’ department. This is where I’m meeting Fabrice, Project Manager and Logistics Engineer on-site.

As Fabrice is showing me around the building, he greets each colleague we encounter by name. They in return warmly return the salutation. “It wasn’t until I took on the role of Logistics Engineer that I started to get to know everyone. I think it’s accurate to say that before I took this position, I only knew about 20 colleagues. Now that I lead different types of projects in cooperation with colleagues across all the teams and departments I have the chance to work with almost everyone”, he says. From his enthusiasm you can tell that he thoroughly enjoys his work and the people that are part of it.  

Fabrice is a true ‘team player’ – an important skill for someone in his position. But according to him, his biggest strengths are the ability to listen and his analytical mindset. The skill to transform sheer numbers into actionable insights led him to study Economics, and when in 2006 he landed a job at Kuehne + Nagel it was in the role of Business Controller. “Admittedly, when I first started here I didn’t know anything about logistics – let alone that I had any ambitions to grow in this field. At the time, Finance was all I knew. But being immersed in the sector, I was captured by its complexity and I wanted to find a way to enter operations while still being able to use my analytical skills."

With additional training – like the Green Belt formation that he followed in the company – he seamlessly transitioned into his current position as Project Manager. “I’m very glad with the way my career in Kuehne + Nagel progressed, especially since my daily work is in line with my personal values. I wanted to work more with people: collaboration and communication are very important to me to get satisfaction from my work. Just the human side of it in general has been a great enrichment in my career.” 

Being in the ambitious and stimulating environment that is Kuehne + Nagel, Fabrice has developed some new ambitions of his own. “The next step for me would be to obtain the Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. I always want to evolve myself, but also my colleagues and our business in general. With a Black Belt I could take the improvement projects I’m doing now to the next level”, he says.

Last but not least, Fabrice hopes that with Kuehne + Nagel’s he can realize a dream he shares with his wife since they were students.  “We would love to move to Kuehne + Nagel Canada with our two kids if the opportunity comes up. Learning and evolving in Canadian culture would be a new challenge for the whole family that we’re all up for. In an international company like Kuehne + Nagel there are many possibilities for the future if you’re open for it.”

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