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Dr. Kai-Oliver Zander

Partner

Germany

Kai-Oliver is an experienced transformation expert supporting clients on their journey to radical and sustainable performance improvements

Areas of Focus

Education

Texas Tech University, Lubbock (TX), USA
Ph.D. and M.S. in Industrial Engineering
Jade University of Applied Sciences, Wilhelmshaven, Germany
M.Eng. in Engineering and Management

Past Experience

Lumics (JV between McKinsey and Lufthansa Technik)
Senior Consultant

Kai-Oliver is a Partner based in the Frankfurt office and a member of the global Performance Practice.

He advises clients’ on radical but sustainable transformation to highly productive organizations. His consulting work focusses on supply chain management and performance improvements along the entire value chain. He has supported numerous clients successfully in solving complex supply chain management issues by linking supply chain strategy to efficient operations. He has strong experience advising clients in the industrial and consumer goods, heavy asset, and transportation industries. 

Additionally, Kai-Oliver has advised several clients on substantially increasing heavy asset performance. For instance, He has advised on asset and maintenance management as well as direct cost optimization.

Kai-Oliver has developed and published several thought- pieces on topics such as performance enhancement or supply chain optimization and design, underlining his strong functional expertise in these areas.

He holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Texas Tech University. In his private time, he is passionate about traveling, bike riding, and skiing in the mountains.

Optimizing fleet management to drive efficiency & sustainability
Energy, Utilities & Resources
Optimizing fleet management to drive efficiency & sustainability
Globally, companies rely on large fleets of cars, trucks, vans, and specialized vehicles to keep their operations and people moving. Both vehicle numbers and fleet management complexity are increasing, particularly as organizations plan to decarbonize and move to alternative powertrains, such as electric vehicles (EVs). Traditionally, optimizing fleet management has not been a business priority.
Find out more
Building a sustainable and highly productive supply chain
Building a sustainable & highly productive supply chain
Bernd Schreiber, Dr. Kai-Oliver Zander, Naoya Furuta
Supply chains are under unprecedented strain, impacting productivity and leading to shortages for consumers and manufacturers alike. At the same time, companies face growing pressure from society and regulators to become more sustainable, which opens up new opportunities with customers increasingly willing to pay a premium for more sustainable products. Meeting these conflicting objectives requires a comprehensive approach that future-proofs supply chains by delivering both greater sustainability and higher productivity.
Find out more
Achieving resilience and sustainability for the EV battery supply chain
Energy, Utilities & Resources
Achieving resilience and sustainability for the EV battery supply chain
Bernd Schreiber, Dr. Philipp Seidel, Alexander Krug, Rodrigo P. Navarro, Dr. Kai-Oliver Zander, Shinichi Akayama
However, battery supply chains remain complex, global, and fragile, with many still evolving from scratch. Their resilience is impacted by a growing number of factors, from rising raw material costs to geopolitical disruption. Average battery pack prices have risen in 2022, the first increase since 2013. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns, greater regulation, and governments’ desire to localize battery production add to pressure on already-stretched global supply chains. All of these factors lead to potential bottlenecks that affect production.
Find out more
The sustainable and highly productive supply chain
Bernd Schreiber, Lokesh Dadhich, Naoya Furuta, Dr. Kai-Oliver Zander
At the same time, national and international sustainability laws and initiatives require a fundamental shift within global supply chains. It is clear that organizations require a strategic framework that supports decision makers in creating supply chain value by synchronizing supply chain layers beyond short-term and reactive crisis management.
Find out more
Energy, Utilities & Resources, Oil, Gas & Other Natural Resources
Integrated planning in metals & mining
Bernd Schreiber, Alexey Pankov, Dr. Kai-Oliver Zander
Over the past decade, heavily invested projects from metals, mining, and other industrial companies have transformed and optimized functional processes – standardizing operations within ERP systems and enriching systems with data through modern digital tools. Such key functional area optimization produced solid economic benefits. Opportunities for more value remain via optimal interfaces between different functions that, locally optimized, are still siloed and do not provide substantial productivity improvement.
Find out more
Actions for post-crisis supply chain recovery
Bernd Schreiber, Dr. Engin Beken, Dr. Kai-Oliver Zander
Every day more countries alarm the world with new COVID-19 cases. As a result, many countries are closing their borders and imposing social-distancing measures on their people. Naturally, global and local companies are affected as their workforces and supply chains are cut off. The first weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak showed organizations’ ability to pull out well-prepared contingency plans to respond and adapt to the new reality quickly.
Find out more
Energy, Utilities & Resources
Nuclear Lean
Michael Kruse, Bernd Schreiber, Dr. Kai-Oliver Zander
Nuclear power plant owners are hesitant to pursue life extension projects, and in some cases, are even shutting down their plants. As plants age and safety requirements inflate costs of life extension projects, nuclear plant owners often do not find these projects an attractive business case. This, combined with lack of political support, fear of national nuclear phaseouts, and competition from other (often renewable) energy sources, has forced the premature shutdown of several nuclear plants across the world. Arthur D.
Find out more

Kai-Oliver is a Partner based in the Frankfurt office and a member of the global Performance Practice.

He advises clients’ on radical but sustainable transformation to highly productive organizations. His consulting work focusses on supply chain management and performance improvements along the entire value chain. He has supported numerous clients successfully in solving complex supply chain management issues by linking supply chain strategy to efficient operations. He has strong experience advising clients in the industrial and consumer goods, heavy asset, and transportation industries. 

Additionally, Kai-Oliver has advised several clients on substantially increasing heavy asset performance. For instance, He has advised on asset and maintenance management as well as direct cost optimization.

Kai-Oliver has developed and published several thought- pieces on topics such as performance enhancement or supply chain optimization and design, underlining his strong functional expertise in these areas.

He holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Texas Tech University. In his private time, he is passionate about traveling, bike riding, and skiing in the mountains.

Optimizing fleet management to drive efficiency & sustainability
Energy, Utilities & Resources
Optimizing fleet management to drive efficiency & sustainability
Globally, companies rely on large fleets of cars, trucks, vans, and specialized vehicles to keep their operations and people moving. Both vehicle numbers and fleet management complexity are increasing, particularly as organizations plan to decarbonize and move to alternative powertrains, such as electric vehicles (EVs). Traditionally, optimizing fleet management has not been a business priority.
Find out more
Building a sustainable and highly productive supply chain
Building a sustainable & highly productive supply chain
Bernd Schreiber, Dr. Kai-Oliver Zander, Naoya Furuta
Supply chains are under unprecedented strain, impacting productivity and leading to shortages for consumers and manufacturers alike. At the same time, companies face growing pressure from society and regulators to become more sustainable, which opens up new opportunities with customers increasingly willing to pay a premium for more sustainable products. Meeting these conflicting objectives requires a comprehensive approach that future-proofs supply chains by delivering both greater sustainability and higher productivity.
Find out more
Achieving resilience and sustainability for the EV battery supply chain
Energy, Utilities & Resources
Achieving resilience and sustainability for the EV battery supply chain
Bernd Schreiber, Dr. Philipp Seidel, Alexander Krug, Rodrigo P. Navarro, Dr. Kai-Oliver Zander, Shinichi Akayama
However, battery supply chains remain complex, global, and fragile, with many still evolving from scratch. Their resilience is impacted by a growing number of factors, from rising raw material costs to geopolitical disruption. Average battery pack prices have risen in 2022, the first increase since 2013. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns, greater regulation, and governments’ desire to localize battery production add to pressure on already-stretched global supply chains. All of these factors lead to potential bottlenecks that affect production.
Find out more
The sustainable and highly productive supply chain
Bernd Schreiber, Lokesh Dadhich, Naoya Furuta, Dr. Kai-Oliver Zander
At the same time, national and international sustainability laws and initiatives require a fundamental shift within global supply chains. It is clear that organizations require a strategic framework that supports decision makers in creating supply chain value by synchronizing supply chain layers beyond short-term and reactive crisis management.
Find out more
Energy, Utilities & Resources, Oil, Gas & Other Natural Resources
Integrated planning in metals & mining
Bernd Schreiber, Alexey Pankov, Dr. Kai-Oliver Zander
Over the past decade, heavily invested projects from metals, mining, and other industrial companies have transformed and optimized functional processes – standardizing operations within ERP systems and enriching systems with data through modern digital tools. Such key functional area optimization produced solid economic benefits. Opportunities for more value remain via optimal interfaces between different functions that, locally optimized, are still siloed and do not provide substantial productivity improvement.
Find out more
Actions for post-crisis supply chain recovery
Bernd Schreiber, Dr. Engin Beken, Dr. Kai-Oliver Zander
Every day more countries alarm the world with new COVID-19 cases. As a result, many countries are closing their borders and imposing social-distancing measures on their people. Naturally, global and local companies are affected as their workforces and supply chains are cut off. The first weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak showed organizations’ ability to pull out well-prepared contingency plans to respond and adapt to the new reality quickly.
Find out more
Energy, Utilities & Resources
Nuclear Lean
Michael Kruse, Bernd Schreiber, Dr. Kai-Oliver Zander
Nuclear power plant owners are hesitant to pursue life extension projects, and in some cases, are even shutting down their plants. As plants age and safety requirements inflate costs of life extension projects, nuclear plant owners often do not find these projects an attractive business case. This, combined with lack of political support, fear of national nuclear phaseouts, and competition from other (often renewable) energy sources, has forced the premature shutdown of several nuclear plants across the world. Arthur D.
Find out more

More About Dr. Kai-Oliver
  • Texas Tech University, Lubbock (TX), USA
    Ph.D. and M.S. in Industrial Engineering
  • Jade University of Applied Sciences, Wilhelmshaven, Germany
    M.Eng. in Engineering and Management
  • Lumics (JV between McKinsey and Lufthansa Technik)
    Senior Consultant