Joey Smienk

Receiving telephone calls in Dutch and English from Rabobank customers in The Netherlands who have questions about their bank accounts and providing assistance to resolve bank account issues.

Working for an international Fortune500 and technologically fast growing company as UPS was an interesting experience. UPS finds safety and security very important and invest heavily in keeping the workplace safe and secure for employees and for the organization. For starters one of the main focus for logistic team leaders would be to educate new- and existing employees and freelancers on regular basis on these safety and security principles.

The daily workforce, including freelancers, would count up to 50 people, this left its challenges to operate in the distribution centre. Together with experienced co-workers; giving clarity about activities, responsibilities and clear communication we would minimize process errors. To follow accepted KPI standards, work tempo was one that would require focus and teamwork. This meant that besides specialization was preferable, flexibility was also required from the team and its team leaders.

• Evaluated team performance through frequent reviews and feedback sessions, fostering a culture of open communication and professional growth opportunities.
• Executed comprehensive training programs for new team members to ensure consistent work quality and adherence to policies.
• Conducted regular safety inspections of warehouse facilities and equipment to minimize incidents of workplace accidents or property damage.
• Increased on-time delivery rates by closely monitoring schedules and proactively addressing potential delays or bottlenecks in the process.
• Reduced logistical errors by regularly auditing stock locations, and shipping documentation.

SDK Logistics is part of the SDK Group and is a transportation company specialized to move client´s orders from the Benelux, France, Spain, Germany to Denmark and Scandinavian Countries. Moving orders in trailers to Scandinavia went by using the seaport in Ghent. Partially loaded trailers went first to the distribution center in Ghent before going to the port.

Working at SDK Logistics has given me expertise how to manage effective and efficient pickup and delivery of client´s orders. Daily challenges were to manage pickups and deliveries while balancing client´s requirements together with working cost effective.

• Assigning jobs to truck drivers, finding solutions to transportation problems, managing trailers, and maintaining client relationships.
• Evaluated the effectiveness of implemented changes in transportation systems by conducting post-implementation assessments and making recommendations for further improvements based on findings.
• Managed project budgets effectively, monitoring expenditures and adjusting allocation as needed to ensure optimal resource utilization.
• Trailer management: planning annual service reviews and monitoring damage repairs.
• Contacting and updating clients on the transport of their cargo.
• Search for cargo movement possibilities for our clients and partners.
• Maintain close contact with partner carriers to receive updates on the status of cargo movements

NSF Games is a production company which fabricates puzzles and board games. During the Covid19 period the requested orders from clients reached sky-high and it let to the fact of building a second distribution center. This let to the use of Lean-structure and to qualification of ISO 9001.

By working for NSF Games I have gained expertise with international transport requirements such as custom documentation and proper preparation of goods. Due to high demand of products, and limited amount of space to stock all ordered items and finalized products, Stock management was a daily challenge to keep products and items organized, because due to the high amount of inventory differentiation to offer fast production and delivery to clients.

• Loading and unloading goods, sorting products, and planning supply according to Lean-structure.
• Verified amount of items received in orders and cross-checked with invoices.
• Supported cross-functional teams during peak seasons or high-demand periods by providing additional labor and expertise where needed.

In this position I have had the pleasure to grow into a warehouse specialist. This meant to be able to manage people to load, offload, or to reload trailers; stock management in operational- and administrative movements; using different SAP systems; to find creative solutions for arising operational problems. I am very thankful that I could experience such an amazing work- and learning experience.