This time in "in the spotlight" Jack Pool. Jack is Managing Director of Districon since 2010. He will tell you all about his experiences.

Who are you?

My name is Jack Pool, and I joined Districon in 2010. After years of experience within Supply Chain with several big companies such as Scapino, IKEA, Gillette-P&G and Nutricia/Danone, I needed change. I wanted to combine my passion for Supply Chain with entrepreneurship and I bought myself in as a shareholder at Districon, a decision I only have positive experiences about. As one of Districon’s partners, my responsibilities include the extension of our Districon Solutions business. Besides, I also enjoy to regularly work in advisory and/or interim projects. 

My experiences

In hindsight, I joined Districon at a great time. The worst crisis had just passed, e-commerce took serious shapes and Analytics took off and came up in many different places. This provided us as a company with many great opportunities, and I am thrilled that we, as Districon’s partners, started with offering additional  products and entered new markets, growing fast as a result. Starting from a company with 17 consultants with a focus on the BeNeLux, we currently employ over 60 consultants, working for customers all over the world in over 50 different countries.

Together with AIMMS and Qlik, Districon Solutions offers a wide range of Supply Chain and Analytics solutions, and we are making progress in the field of Machine Learning. We try to get the most out of the technical possibilities and are always looking for the optimal solution for our customer. Fast, innovative, flexible, scalable and for a very competing price. Extremely fascinating, and if you ask me, the world of Supply Chain Analytics is in its infancy. We will continue to be frontrunners in finding creative and innovative applications in which we benefit our knowledge regarding Supply Chain processes, data in combination with state of the art tooling, to the full.

With Districon Solutions, we notice that we reach a new group of large international customers. Customers with a world-wide Supply Chain who are frontrunners when it comes to Supply Chain Analytics. With reaching these customers, we were given the opportunity to extend to an international scope, our office in Chicago being its first result. It is amazing to see the early, but nonetheless big, successes we have there for some interesting customers. I am very proud that we recently hired two local employees in the USA to strengthen the Dutch Districon guys, who, under the lead of Sander van Lokven, are doing a great job pioneering in the US market.

But above all, the very best thing is the pleasant culture and environment within which we can work at Districon. Colleagues who are always there for each other, mutual respect, passion for Supply Chain and Analytics, taking responsibilities and a pleasant work-life balance. And last but not least, a truly amazing office location, which allows me to do what the Dutch can do as no other: cycle to work.

Which colleague will be in the spotlight next?

I recognize my passion for data with my colleague Aleks Hoogendoorn, one of our first Business Intelligence employees and a super expert in his field. Another similarity is our Polish background, though mine goes more than a few years further back in history. Two good reasons to give the floor to Aleks to be in the spotlight next.