What does it take to drive genuine supply chain transformation across one of the world’s largest dairy cooperatives? And how do you make sure the gains actually stick?
In a recent CCi OpEx Leader Insights Webinar, Jim McCowan, Manufacturing & OpEx Leadership Coach at CCi sat down with David Cutter, Chief Supply Chain and R&D Officer at FrieslandCampina, to explore exactly that. What followed was a candid, practical account of a supply chain transformation program that has now delivered over €400 million in annual savings, driven OEE toward 75%+, and improved employee engagement by 10%.
The conversation covered the full arc of FrieslandCampina’s journey: the urgent business case that sparked it, the two parallel programs that powered it, and the leadership principles and cultural shifts that have made it sustainable. Below, we’ve distilled the ten key insights from that discussion.
10 Key Insights
1. Servant leadership over top-down direction
One of the earliest and most deliberate shifts in FrieslandCampina’s supply chain transformation was the move away from a command-and-control leadership culture. Rather than telling people what to do, leaders began asking what people needed and then providing it.
This was anchored in what the team calls the inverted pyramid. Operators and frontline teams are positioned as the most important people in the organization. Senior leadership, including David himself, sits at the bottom of that pyramid, with the explicit job of enabling, supporting, and removing obstacles for the people on the shopfloor.
“The most important people are on the shop floor, or they’re in our warehouses, or they’re our planners. And the best part is, my job’s the least important, because I’m the furthest away from what goes on.” – David Cutter
2. Stretched objectives over incremental thinking
FrieslandCampina had a well-established habit of safe, incremental improvement: a culture of 1% gains and small steps that felt manageable but rarely moved the dial. The transformation required a deliberate break from that pattern.
The new ambition was straightforward: it’s okay to think big, and it’s okay to fail. Stretch targets became a cultural signal, not just a planning tool. Setting an ambitious goal, even when it doesn’t land perfectly, changes the conversation, the energy, and ultimately the results.
3. One standard, everywhere, no exceptions
With nearly 50 factories operating across 30 countries, FrieslandCampina had historically accepted wide variation in how sites operated. Different structures, different measures, different rhythms. The supply chain transformation drew a clear line: one global standard, applied consistently, with no carve-outs.
That means the same meeting structures, the same performance boards, the same short interval control routines, whether you’re in a factory in Nigeria or the Netherlands. Walking into a tier 2 meeting in Lagos should feel identical to walking into one in Amersfoort. That replicability is the foundation everything else is built on.
4. Red is good: Transparency over self-sufficiency
Before the transformation, FrieslandCampina operated with an unspoken cultural rule: if you have a problem, you sort it out quietly. Don’t escalate. Don’t flag it. Just fix it yourself. The result was a business where real issues stayed hidden, support wasn’t sought, and problems compounded.
The response was to eliminate yellow entirely and reframe red as a positive signal. Surfacing a problem, making it visible, and asking for help is now not just acceptable; it’s expected. The goal is clear escalation pathways and the confidence that asking for support is a strength, not a weakness.
5. Recognition at every meeting, without exception
At FrieslandCampina, recognition isn’t treated as an annual event, a bonus scheme, or a formal program. It’s built into the operating rhythm, mandatory at every meeting, at every tier, without exception.
The point isn’t financial rewards. It’s consistent, genuine acknowledgement of the people doing the work. This doesn’t need to be complicated or costly. It’s simply making sure that the people who produce, plan, move, and procure things know that their contribution is seen and valued. That consistency, applied at scale over time, changes how people experience their working environment.
6. Non-negotiable leadership commitment
Transformation programs fail when they become optional. At FrieslandCampina, leadership commitment wasn’t aspirational; it was mandatory. There were no opt-outs or quiet exceptions for parts of the business that preferred their own way of doing things.
The program was presented to the board every quarter and to the executive leadership team every month. Leadership didn’t just endorse the program from a distance; they were taken into factories around the world to see it in action. Alignment wasn’t a checkbox; it was an ongoing, active commitment.
7. Operational alignment: From pushing to pulling
Getting a global organization moving in the same direction, at the same pace, toward the same standard takes sustained effort. David described the first 18 months as dragging the organization through the change, a push that required constant reinforcement from leadership.
Then something shifted, and people started pulling. Getting every part of the business moving in the same direction, at the same time, toward the same standard, is what ultimately unlocked the results.
8. Supply chain transformation doesn’t stop at the factory gate
The initial focus was manufacturing, where the performance gaps were most visible and where early wins were most achievable. But the ambition was always broader: end-to-end, from supplier through to customer.
The program has since expanded into planning, logistics, procurement, and commercial functions. Waste in meetings, duplicated work, and unnecessary complexity isn’t unique to the shopfloor. The same principles that drive improvement on a production line apply equally to how supply chain teams run their reviews, how commercial teams launch products, and how executive meetings are structured.
9. Cutting costs and sustaining them are two different problems
FrieslandCampina ran two parallel programs from the start. Performance Plus focused on driving cost and waste out of the business. Our Way of Working focused on building the capability and culture to keep it out. Running both in parallel, rather than sequentially, was a critical decision.
You can cut costs without building culture, but you won’t sustain the gains. The cultural program isn’t the soft complement to the hard financial work; it’s what makes the financial results permanent. Without it, savings erode, behaviors revert, and the organization finds itself running the same supply chain transformation cycle again a few years down the line.
10. Problem-solving is the single most important capability to build
When asked which initiative he would prioritize if starting again, David’s answer was immediate: problem-solving.
Not a specific tool or methodology, but the genuine organizational capability to identify what’s wrong, understand why, and fix it permanently. Everything else follows from that. When an organization gets good at solving problems, performance improvement becomes a natural outcome rather than a constant struggle. Fix the problems holding back performance, and performance will take care of itself.
A Leaner Business, a Better Place to Work
Three years in, the results are clear. OEE is moving toward 75%+ against a target of 80%. Material losses are down 13% globally. The program has delivered over €400 million in annual savings. And employee engagement is up 10%, even as the organization has become leaner and more efficient, with approximately 700 roles removed over the course of the program.
Those results were delivered by the same people who were there at the start. Given the right tools, the right standard, and genuine leadership support. The capability was already in the organization. It just needed the right conditions to perform.
We’re unearthing this amazing amount of talent we have in our factories and our warehouses and giving them some tools to do their job, but also allowing them to really grow into what their capability is and what their potential is. And that’s the best part for me about the whole thing.” – David Cutter
This article captures the key insights, but the full conversation goes deeper, covering how the program expanded from manufacturing into the broader supply chain, how FrieslandCampina approached data and AI, and David’s candid reflections on what he’d do faster if starting again.
Watch the full webinar recording of From Shopfloor to Supply Chain: FrieslandCampina’s OpEx Evolution to hear the complete discussion between Jim McCowan and David Cutter, including the audience Q&A.