Experience

Results from real operating environments.

Selected achievements from Zoë Hall's career in supply chain, business systems and operational improvement. Each follows the same pattern: find the underlying problem, then build a practical system that solves it.

Results from Zoë Hall's previous employed and contract roles. Organisations are named for context and do not imply endorsement.

01 / Eurostar

Area
Engineering materials reporting
Type of work
Reporting and workflow transformation
Scale
Twelve interconnected Access databases
Tools
Microsoft Access, SharePoint, Power Automate, Power BI

Replacing a fragile chain of legacy reporting.

Information flows: before and after

The problem

Essential reporting depended on twelve interconnected Microsoft Access databases and fragile macro processes, including an extraction step tied to one physical computer. Hundreds of Excel outputs had accumulated, and it was unclear which reports could be trusted.

What I did

Investigated how the databases and macros depended on each other, identified which information flows were genuinely needed, and rebuilt them using SharePoint, Power Automate and Power BI.

The result

Essential reporting rebuilt on maintained platforms, with automated data loading and the dependency on a single computer removed.

02 / Eurostar

Area
Monthly stock certification
Type of work
Process redesign and automation
Scale
£91m of stock across the UK, France and Belgium

From up to two days to about three minutes.

Time to complete monthly stock certification
Before
Up to 2 days
After
About 3 minutes, 2 clicks

Bars show relative duration. At this scale the after bar is shown at its minimum visible width.

The problem

Monthly certification of £91m of cross-border stock was a process that could take up to two days to complete.

What I did

Redesigned the process and fully automated the workflow, so every input file populates without manual intervention. Reconciling the new output against the old one also exposed defects in the previous calculation logic, which the original database developer confirmed.

The result

A process that took up to two days now takes approximately three minutes and two clicks.

03 / GSK

Area
Clinical packaging materials
Type of work
Forecasting and materials planning
Scale
About 2,000 components across UK and US sites
Tools
Excel, VBA

Bringing thousands of components back under control.

Component lines at red status
Feb 2018
173 lines
From Aug 2018
Single figures

The after bar shows the upper limit of single figures (nine lines) against 173.

The problem

Supply of clinical packaging components had to be planned across approximately 2,000 items at UK and US sites. In February 2018, 173 component lines were at red status.

What I did

Developed an Excel and VBA forecasting system covering approximately 2,000 clinical packaging components used across UK and US sites.

The result

Red-status component lines fell from 173 in February 2018 to single figures from August 2018.

04 / HSL Pathology

Area
Warehouse and laboratory supply
Type of work
Process redesign and Kanban workflows
Scale
About 6,000 active SKUs and £20m of inventory, supplying five major NHS hospitals
Tools
Excel, Power Query, Microsoft Dynamics AX, Kanban

Laboratory deliveries: from five days to next day.

Laboratory delivery lead time, in days
Before
5 days
After
Next day

Each block represents one day of lead time.

The problem

Laboratory deliveries took five days, relying on paper delivery notes and a warehouse layout that slowed receiving, picking and dispatch.

What I did

Redesigned the warehouse processes and Kanban workflows that linked receiving, picking and dispatch.

The result

Lead times cut from five days to next day, paper delivery notes removed, and order accuracy and on-time-in-full delivery improved. The redesigned warehouse also supported on-site kit building for NHS and private customers.

05 / AVIC Cabin Systems

Area
Procurement analysis
Type of work
Data consolidation and spend analysis
Scale
Over $1.5 billion of spend, five businesses, about 1,800 suppliers

One view of procurement spend across five businesses.

Procurement data: before and after

The problem

Procurement expenditure was spread across five businesses and approximately 1,800 suppliers, which made analysis at group level difficult.

What I did

Consolidated over $1.5 billion of procurement expenditure from all five businesses into a single dataset, including Chinese-language source data, with a common four-level commodity classification. Delivered ahead of the Procurement Council's deadline.

The result

Spend could be analysed at group level for the first time, informing supplier evaluations and group sourcing opportunities in categories such as metals and composites.

06 / More results

Across the rest of the career.

Further results from employed and contract roles. Where a figure is an opportunity or stock identified, rather than a saving achieved, it is described that way.

OrganisationChallengeWhat was deliveredOutcome
Eurostar Annual stocktake across three countries while engineering work continued Three-week count planned and coordinated, with recounts, cut-offs and audit evidence About £91m of inventory counted across the UK, France and Belgium
GSK Packaging capacity planned without a reliable forward view Excel and VBA model converting 3,300 forecast lines across 300 clinical studies into labour needs Rolling 24-month capacity forecasts for global supply reviews
GSK Rising volumes of temperature excursion reports Analysis of nearly 1,900 reports by location, country and period About a third of 2018 reports found not to meet the definition
AVIC Cabin Systems Supply risk during the first Covid disruption Monitoring of stock cover, capacity and lead times About 1,000 suppliers kept under review
Neopost Inaccurate forecasts, excess stock and manual purchasing SAP MRP and buffer stock improvements; unsaleable stock reworked after a rebrand Forecast accuracy 92%, inventory down £425,000, manual purchase orders down 75%, £75,000 recovered
GEM Distribution Seven-day order processing and 70% fulfilment Customer order book automated with Excel macros; forecasting improved Next-day processing and 99% fulfilment
Arrow Electronics Electronic component contracts at risk at renewal Crystal Reports contract renewal workflow About £950,000 of revenue protected or recovered in a year
TG Lynes Limited visibility of stock health Inventory analysis and automated KPI reporting from the Kerridge K8 ERP £930,000 of excess and obsolete stock identified; £125,000 returned to a supplier
NHS hospital trust Paper-based stores requisitions and incomplete supplier records Excel solution feeding a database; supplier agreements rebuilt 100% data entry accuracy; about £320,000 of savings opportunities identified
Rentokil Initial Business Central rollout across acquired European businesses As-is process mapping and requirements in Spain, Portugal, Poland and Germany Local requirements and exceptions documented for the implementation team
Reynolds Catering New RELEX forecasting system being introduced Became a forecasting super-user; tested forecasts in user acceptance testing Forecast discrepancies and defects reported to the implementation team

The expertise

Commercial understanding, hands-on technical delivery.

The tools matter less than knowing which problem to solve. But when it is time to build, these are the ones I use most.

Data and reporting

  • Excel
  • VBA
  • Power Query
  • Power BI
  • DAX
  • SQL
  • QlikView
  • Crystal Reports

Automation and platforms

  • Power Automate
  • SharePoint
  • Microsoft Access

ERP and planning systems

  • SAP
  • Dynamics AX
  • Business Central
  • RELEX
  • Kerridge K8

Web development

  • HTML and CSS
  • JavaScript
  • Eleventy
  • Netlify
  • Git and GitHub
  • Python
  • AI-assisted development

Analysis and delivery

  • Root-cause analysis
  • Process mapping
  • Requirements
  • Fit-gap analysis
  • User acceptance testing
  • Data reconciliation
  • Lucidchart and Visio
  • Training and handover

Supply chain

  • Demand planning
  • Forecasting
  • Capacity planning
  • MRP
  • Inventory control
  • Stocktake and audit support
  • Warehouse processes
  • Kanban
  • Procurement analysis

Sectors

  • Rail
  • Pharmaceuticals
  • Healthcare and the NHS
  • Aerospace
  • Manufacturing
  • Electronics
  • Food distribution
  • Retail
  • Business services

Professional profile

Nearly 20 years in supply chain, planning, procurement and business analysis. Six Sigma Green Belt trained (in-house). Selected results are in the case studies above; full career history is on LinkedIn, and a current CV can be sent the same day on request.

View LinkedIn profile

Put this experience to work.

For a problem in your business, start with a free 30-minute conversation. For a contract or interim role, I am available now.

Project enquiry Contract availability