With extensive experience in industry and a passion for Supply Chain, Élisabeth Zbinden joined SuCh Consulting as a Senior Consultant. Leveraging her expertise in planning, data analytics, and operational excellence, she now supports our clients in their transformation initiatives and performance improvement projects.
In this interview, discover her background, her vision of the consulting profession, and what motivates her every day.
1 – First of all, could you tell us a little about yourself and your background?
After completing a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering at EPFL, I discovered the world of operational excellence, followed by Supply Chain. I quickly became passionate about this field, which is both diverse, dynamic, and highly tangible. This sparked my desire to deepen my expertise, leading me to pursue a Master’s degree in Supply Chain and Logistics at IML. I started my professional career at Nestlé, then moved into the watchmaking industry before joining GSK, which later became Haleon. I began as a Supply Planner and gradually evolved through various roles, always driven by a desire to learn and take on new challenges. Over the years, my interest in data and its potential continued to grow. I progressively moved away from planning to focus on developing analytical strategies, where I could combine critical thinking, data analysis, and business impact. Always eager to keep learning, I obtained several APICS certifications before embarking on a part-time Executive MBA at the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management. It was an enriching experience that allowed me to strengthen my skills, broaden my strategic perspective, and take on new professional challenges, while meeting inspiring people, exchanging ideas with diverse profiles, and learning as much from my peers as from the program itself. In 2025, I decided to explore new horizons by leaving industry to join SuCh Consulting. This new adventure allows me to leverage my experience across different companies, discover new business environments, and continue learning every day.
2 – As a Senior Consultant, what value do you bring to your clients?
As a Senior Consultant, I primarily bring an analytical and curious mindset, with a strong data-driven approach that enables me to quickly understand complex environments and identify tangible performance improvement opportunities. My added value also lies in my ability to optimize processes and organizations by combining methodological rigor with operational pragmatism. I place great importance on soft skills, particularly listening, communication, and the ability to bring teams together around sustainable solutions. Finally, I offer a fresh perspective on the challenges our clients face by questioning existing practices and proposing innovative approaches tailored to each organization’s specific needs.
3 – What are the three key qualities of a great SuCh Consultant?
For me, an excellent Supply Chain consultant stands out through three key qualities.
The first is curiosity. Every client, every industry, and every project is different. Curiosity enables us to quickly understand new environments, ask the right questions, and identify improvement opportunities that clients may not have considered themselves.
The second is customer focus. Our role goes beyond providing expertise; it is about understanding our clients’ challenges, building trusted relationships, and supporting them with practical solutions tailored to their operational reality.
Finally, I would highlight the pursuit of excellence. This means maintaining high standards in the quality of our analyses, recommendations, and deliverables while always remaining pragmatic. Our goal is to create real value and contribute sustainably to our clients’ performance.
4 – What makes Supply Chain such a fascinating field?
Supply Chain is an incredibly broad and diverse field that sits at the crossroads of many business functions. It connects strategy with operations and encompasses planning, logistics, procurement, manufacturing, and data management. It is also a function that often operates behind the scenes and is therefore sometimes overlooked. Yet it is essential to the smooth operation of any business and to customer satisfaction. A high-performing Supply Chain not only optimizes costs and material flows but also strengthens an organization’s agility and resilience in today’s increasingly complex environment. It is this diversity of challenges, combined with its direct impact on business performance, that makes Supply Chain such a fascinating field.
5 – Can you tell us about your first few months at SuCh Consulting?
My first few months at the company have been particularly rewarding. I have had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects across different industries, allowing me to discover diverse business environments and operational challenges. This period has been both intense and highly educational, enabling me to develop new skills on a daily basis. Working closely with both my colleagues and our clients has allowed me to broaden my understanding of Supply Chain challenges from a much more holistic perspective. Beyond the projects themselves, I have also discovered a very supportive work environment, with collaborative teams and a strong culture of knowledge sharing, which has made both learning and integration a very positive experience.
