Expeditors International

Expeditors successfully won the North American **"Premium Freight"** account from the incumbent (NLMI). We inherited the massive volume without the necessary software, staff, or standardized processes. The project launched in **2007**, directly preceding the global financial crisis, placing this operational gap under extreme pressure.

The mandate was absolute: leverage the corporate culture of process excellence to build a completely new operational ecosystem from scratch—including the software logic, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and team structures—before the critical "go-live" transition date.

I acted as the primary **Operational Liaison** for the development of the proprietary ZMS software.

• **Process Invention:** Since we were replacing an incumbent, the workflows were invented, not refined. I defined the logic that translated the chaotic reality of high-stakes logistics into the code used by the ZMS platform.
• **Team Mobilization:** The department started with a nucleus of just three people. I helped mentor and structure the team that would manage the account once transitioned.

The program successfully launched and immediately absorbed the full volume of the account, mitigating the risk of critical supply chain failure for the client during the recession.

• **Scale:** The department rapidly scaled from 3 to a fully staffed team managing **$65M in annual transportation spend**.
• **Impact & Learning:** The established systems and processes proved robust enough to handle the velocity and complexity of a major automotive supply chain through one of the most volatile economic periods in history. This experience provided foundational training in the **process excellence and rigorous operational control** that define high-performing global logistics organizations.