Sandor van Kesteren

Head of Supply Chain & Logistics at Midea

Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Area

About

Senior supply chain executive and Kellogg-HKUST MBA graduate with 25+ years of international leadership experience across Fortune 500 companies in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Deep expertise in global supply chain strategy, operations management and business transformation at scale — with functional scope spanning logistics, S&OP, procurement and after-sales service. Former Audit Director at Philips, providing strong grounding in strategic risk management and corporate governance. Good communicator and consensus-builder in culturally and politically sensitive environments. Track record of building and leading high-performing teams on the intersection of strategy, business and operations.

Experience

  • Midea Group (Fortune Global 500 Company) (7 yrs 8 mos)
    • Head of Supply Chain & Logistics Midea Europe GmbH
      Mar 2023 - Present · 3 yrs 4 mos

      Within Midea, #245 (2022) on the Fortune 500 list of global companies, I am operationally responsible for all S&OP, Quality and Logistics operations. Together with my team I define the strategy, build the capabilities and drive the operational excellence improvement needed to continue Midea's strong sales growth.

    • Global Head of Supply Chain & Logistics
      Nov 2018 - Feb 2023 · 4 yrs 4 mos

      Within Midea, #245 on the Fortune 500 list of global companies, I lead the Supply Chain Management function for appr. 4.8 Bln USD Midea International Business to help build the Midea brand overseas and deliver the best service to our customers, within the constraints of cost- and cash objectives. My scope includes S&OP, order fulfillment, inventory management and logistics. In five countries Midea International Business has manufacturing operations for which I have additional responsibility for procurement and cost engineering.

  • Philips Lighting (5 yrs)
    • Program Director Supply Chain Improvement
      Dec 2016 - Oct 2018 · 1 yr 11 mos

      Within the Global Procurement organisation, I was the PMO leading projects to drive supply chain integration and operational excellence with outsourced manufacturing suppliers, covering appr. 3 Bln USD in spend. Led a cross-functional business transformation program to significantly reduce lead-times to global markets and customers, whilst improving supply reliability and flexibility.

    • Supply Chain Director
      Sep 2014 - Nov 2016 · 2 yrs 3 mos

      Joint Venture established in September 2014 as market leader in the KSA Lighting market with approximately 250 million Euro sales and 1,300 employees. Operationally responsible for a department of 160+ individuals and supervising the demand planning, order management, warehousing and outbound logistics activities across 20 physical locations in the Kingdom. Additionally, driving supply chain integration projects between JV in KSA and Philips factories and sales organizations across the world.

    • Supply Chain Director Special Projects
      Nov 2013 - Aug 2014 · 10 mos

      Executed the Supply Chain Due Diligence and integration planning for a Joint Venture in Saudi Arabia to serve the growing lighting market in the Middle East region. Additionally, I supervised the supply chain operations of the pre-JV Philips Lighting business in the country.

  • Philips (8 yrs 1 mo)
    • Audit Director, Corporate Internal Audit
      Oct 2009 - Oct 2013 · 4 yrs 1 mo

      Responsible for leading global, x-functional and x-sector audit teams (2-4 fte) to investigate strategic risk areas and engage with business leaders to define critical improvement areas. Philips Internal Audit contributes to Philips value creation by providing re-assurance that all major risks possibly impacting the achievement of Philips Strategic and Operational objectives are well understood and managed.

    • LEAN project manager
      Jan 2009 - Oct 2009 · 10 mos

      Broadening assignment in Lighting factory in Turnhout (Belgium) to learn about manufacturing, operations and LEAN methodology.

    • Global Business Process Owner Demand Planning
      Oct 2005 - Dec 2008 · 3 yrs 3 mos

      Responsible for demand planning process and system integration following the DAP and CE divisions combining into Consumer Lifestyle sector. Definition of a harmonized S&OP process and capability building within the new governance structure. Blueprinting and roll-out of SAP APO globally.

  • Procter & Gamble (5 yrs 9 mos)
    • Operations Manager Colour Cosmetics
      Jan 2004 - Sep 2005 · 1 yr 9 mos

      Starting up and leading a team of 5 people (orderdesk, planning and accounts receivable) responsible for the full operations of the Max Factor and Olaz cosmetics brands in the Netherlands. Next to the integration of the team in the P&G organization this required also the setup of a new business model with store-level orders and deliveries.

    • Demand Planning Expert
      Apr 2001 - Dec 2003 · 2 yrs 9 mos

      Responsible for demand planning, forecast accuracy and phase in/out planning for the Belgium and Netherlands markets. Rotated across various categories, a.o. Hair Care, Snacks, Skin Care. Also responsible for a x-category forecast accuracy improvement project, which delivered recognized breakthrough results.

    • Outbound Logistics Engineer
      Jan 2000 - Mar 2001 · 1 yr 3 mos

      Responsible for SLA definition and monitoring between P&G Benelux and its 3rd party service providers for warehousing and logistics

  • Owner at Access Colour
    1998 - 2000 · 2 yrs

    Start-up company in digital printing