Complex, large-scale transformation
Redesign the operating model and align manufacturing, supply chain, procurement, quality, industrialisation and logistics across functions, sites and regions.
Where Velara intervenes
When performance pressure makes incremental change insufficient.
Velara Partners works directly with CEOs, management teams, boards and investors. We step in where industrial complexity, fragmented accountability or a constrained operating model stands between the business and its value-creation plan.
Performance recovery under pressure
Restore operating control, decision cadence and execution discipline when service, cost, cash, inventory or continuity are under pressure.
Supplier & industrial ecosystem transformation
Align plants, contract manufacturers and critical suppliers around a shared demand and supply plan. Establish visibility across supplier tiers and turn recurring reviews into decisions on capacity, inventory and continuity.
International operating-model execution
Translate a common operating model into coordinated action across regions and sites, with clear responsibilities, shared measures and regular follow-through.
How Velara works
From operating-system diagnosis to sustained execution.
Multi-tier operating design
Design operating models that connect plants, contract manufacturers and component suppliers. Translate demand variability and supply constraints into planning rules, inventory policies and clear responsibilities.
Supplier & channel alignment
Shape forecasts, buffers, data exchange, logistical commitments and decision rights so that industrial needs become clear, workable agreements.
Risk-to-recovery governance
Turn early warning signals into confirmed risks, decisions and tracked recovery actions — from capacity or sourcing choices through return to control.
Total-cost decisions & handover
Evaluate sourcing and supply options through total cost — inventory, quality, logistics, payment terms and investment — then establish ownership, review routines and handover criteria so improvements continue after the project phase.
AI for Business & Operations
Use AI to find the operational signal. Keep leaders in command.
Velara combines senior operational judgement with AI-enabled analysis to detect exceptions earlier, focus teams on the decisions that matter and accelerate implementation. This is not a technology showcase: it is a practical layer within an operations transformation.
01Operational data
02AI-supported analysis
03Business rules
04Recommendations
05Human decision
06Tracked execution
S&OP and capacity exceptions
Surface material demand-capacity gaps, rank exceptions and prepare decisions for the operating cadence.
Inventory and working capital
Identify excess, shortages and obsolescence, then test the parameters and actions behind them.
Supplier risk and performance
Detect deterioration, missed commitments and emerging continuity risks before reviews become backward-looking.
Cost opportunity scanning
Combine spend, specifications, contracts and benchmarks to focus sourcing and negotiation effort on the strongest levers.
Industrial transformation PMO
Turn decisions, owners, deadlines and evidence into a live view of delivery, slippage and required escalation.
AI accelerates detection and prioritisation. Human leaders remain accountable for judgement, decisions and implementation.
Scope of intervention
From group-wide complexity to hands-on delivery.
I scope the problem, make the decisions and work with teams until the operating change is in place.
Group-wide transformation
The problem
Autonomous businesses, countries and operating models need one direction without losing the realities of each activity.
What I do
Set group governance, S&OP, decision rights and common standards, then adapt deployment to each business.
Concrete output
Evidence: Thales group deployment →
Process and role frameworks, shared KPIs, maturity diagnostics, executive routines, training and sequenced action plans.
Business / site performance
The problem
Demand, capacity, inventory and supplier performance are disconnected from daily operational decisions.
What I do
Translate the operating model into planning rules, performance reviews and decisions with business and site teams.
Concrete output
Evidence: Thales and Schneider cases →
Demand-capacity plans, inventory controls, supplier actions, decision dashboards and routines that teams use in operation.
Focused operational missions
The problem
A supplier is late, inventory is excessive, ERP parameters are wrong or a negotiation has stalled.
What I do
Build the facts, make the trade-offs, lead negotiations or escalation, qualify alternatives and separate excess, shortages and obsolescence at item level.
Concrete output
Evidence: Ingenico execution cases →
A negotiated agreement, recovery plan, corrected safety stocks, lot sizes and lead times, tracked supplier commitments or a durable management routine.
Selected business cases
Executive systems. Operational levers. Measurable delivery.
S&OP · Inventory
Rebuilt supply-chain control
Segmented the portfolio by demand volatility and supply risk, integrated demand planning into S&OP, introduced inventory dashboards and applied differentiated control rules — bringing net inventory depreciation to zero.
>$20m
Inventory reduction
75 → 55
Days inventory outstanding
Procurement · Supplier negotiation
Turned €200m of addressable spend into an executable cost programme
Held direct responsibility for execution: led supplier negotiations, ran sourcing and tender processes, negotiated manufacturing agreements, and drove implementation with procurement, engineering and operations. The programme combined supplier workshops, should-cost, e-auctions, source qualification, EMS benchmarks and RFQ/RFP. Savings secured through the multi-year programme, with implementation phased over time.
€200m
Addressable spend
€30m
Secured cost savings
15%
Secured cost reduction
Industrial footprint
Resolved a board-level EMS dilemma
Led the RFP and RFQ, built the fact base, negotiated a comprehensive manufacturing contract and executed a complex transfer while protecting continuity and future flexibility.
€19m
Addressable manufacturing cost
€6m
Secured manufacturing savings
32%
Secured manufacturing cost reduction
Included in the €30m secured programme total: this manufacturing result is not additive.
Thales · Group operating system
Executive S&OP into daily execution
Led the build and deployment, with business teams, of the first fully integrated Group end-to-end process in the Chorus reference system, including an operational maturity framework. The programme established common processes, roles and KPIs, diagnostics and action plans, executive reporting and routines, training, community animation and field deployment — starting with seven pilot entities and continuing through six focused business-unit programmes.
€2.1bn
Inventory monitored across six participating business units
≈€200m
DIO-equivalent inventory exposure at constant activity
~10%
Lower weighted inventory days across participating business units
227.5 → 205
Weighted inventory days
Historical programme reporting, delivered with local teams: the ≈€200m figure is an analytical equivalent of the weighted DIO improvement at constant activity — not reported savings, inventory-value reduction or cash released.
Thales · Inventory execution
Inventory performance through operational levers
Worked with local teams on safety-stock settings in SAP, ERP-fed Power BI views of excess and shortages, incoming-order controls, Finance-tracked inventory reduction and avoidance, and decisions at the right management level.
−25%
Inventory days
188 → 141
Days in the aeronautics business unit
Reported business-unit result within the S&OP programme; delivered with local teams.
Track record
Built in operations, not beside them.
Integrated global operations transformation
Led manufacturing partners, supply chain, procurement, S&OP, industrialisation, quality and logistics under significant market and execution pressure.
- Held direct responsibility for execution across the operating scope
- Led supplier negotiations, sourcing and tender processes, and manufacturing agreements
- Drove implementation with procurement, engineering and operations
15%
Secured cost reduction
−20 days
Inventory cycle
Group-wide operating systems at scale
As Supplier Operations VP and S&OP leader, led the build and deployment of the first fully integrated Group end-to-end S&OP process in the Chorus reference system, connecting executive governance with business-unit and field execution.
- Defined the process, roles, KPIs and operational maturity framework
- Ran diagnostics, action plans, executive reporting and management routines
- Mobilised training, community animation and targeted business-unit support
- Led supplier-crisis escalation, alternative-source work and tracked recovery commitments with teams
€2.1bn
Inventory monitored
6
Participating business units
~10%
Lower weighted inventory days
227.5 → 205
Weighted inventory days
Historical programme reporting, delivered with local teams: operating scope and inventory-days performance, not savings or cash released. The aeronautics result is presented separately as a targeted business-unit example.
End-to-end global project operations
Led worldwide operations and supply chain supporting more than €3bn of complex turnkey projects across 30 manufacturing plants and 20 distribution centres.
- Designed multi-tier flow diagnostics and control models connecting plants, manufacturing partners and component suppliers
- Translated demand variability into planning rules, inventory policies and shared responsibilities
- Contributed to risk governance and tracked recovery actions through to operational handover
Collaborative planning programme: nine plants across four regions aligned demand, capacity and inventory with critical suppliers; reported supplier service improved from 94% to 97%.
8%
Annual make-or-buy productivity
−10%
Freight cost
+10 pts
Customer satisfaction
30 / 20
Plants / distribution centres
Ways to engage
Executive interimTake direct accountability for a critical operating scope.
Transformation leadershipDesign, mobilise and execute a value-creation programme.
Operating advisorySupport sponsors and management teams on pivotal decisions.
Leadership
Cyril Guèche
Cyril is an international operations and transformation executive with 30 years of experience in complex industrial environments. He combines executive-level perspective with hands-on delivery across operations, supply chain, procurement, S&OP, industrial footprint and working capital.
Most recently, through Velara Partners, he led a major end-to-end operations transformation at Apollo-backed Ingenico. His earlier global leadership roles at Thales and Schneider Electric built deep experience in aerospace, electronics, capital equipment and multi-country organisations.
Ingenico · Apollo-backed
Global Operations transformation leadership
Thales
Global operations, supply chain and procurement leadership
Schneider Electric
Global supply chain and procurement transformation
Boardroom to shop floor
Europe, Asia and global operating environments
President, Velara Partners · Executive transformation leader
Point of view
“The goal is to turn complexity into clear decisions, accountable execution and lasting performance.”
A demanding operational agenda?
Let’s discuss the mandate.
Velara Partners supports focused executive interim and transformation engagements in France and internationally.
cyril.gueche@velara-partners.eu
Velara Partners SASU
Bureau 326, 59 rue de Ponthieu
75008 Paris, France
Bureau 326, 59 rue de Ponthieu
75008 Paris, France