Behind every delivery: meet the Azelis supply chain team
There is a particular kind of pressure that arrives when an ingredient your production line depends on simply does not arrive. You ordered on time. The lead time looked comfortable. The supplier confirmed. And yet somewhere between origin and your facility, something shifted - and you are the one managing the consequences.
Behind every delivery that does arrive on time, in the right quantity and in perfect condition, something invisible has happened first. A chain of decisions, relationships, planning conversations and logistics moves has already taken place - most of it long before your delivery was ever scheduled.
This is the work of the Azelis Customer Experience and Supply Chain team. And while customers interact with account managers and customer service contacts every day, the supply chain function that sits behind your order tends to remain out of sight. With this series, we want to change that.
From order registration to final delivery - and everything in between
Pierre Gros leads the Customer Experience and Supply Chain function across EMEA. His team's scope is broader than the word "logistics" suggests: it covers demand and supply planning, product procurement and sourcing, supplier coordination, warehousing, regulatory and customs alignment, and the ongoing communication that keeps customers informed at every step.
"Our team manages the full end-to-end customer supply cycle" Pierre explains. "This goes far beyond logistics. We oversee demand and supply planning, product procurement and sourcing, supply coordination, warehousing, and the alignment of customer and regulatory requirements. By managing the entire chain, we can anticipate constraints early, secure capacity in advance, manage inventory strategically, and mitigate risks before they impact our customers."
Planning is central to everything the team does. In a market where disruption has become a permanent feature rather than an occasional interruption, the ability to anticipate - rather than simply react - is what separates reliable supply from costly uncertainty.
A regional network with local expertise
Across EMEA, the supply chain function operates under a regional governance model, with local and sub-regional teams positioned close to customers and market dynamics. Wherever you are based, you benefit from the same standards of service - adapted to the specific requirements of your market and company.
Within that network, Mireille Al Najjar holds a particularly demanding role. As Supply Chain Manager for the Middle East and Africa, she oversees all Customer Experience and Supply Chain activities across the MEA cluster - a region that operates with far greater structural complexity than Europe. The insights her team develop there feed directly into how Azelis manages risk across the whole EMEA network.
"In Europe, the EU single market allows goods to move relatively smoothly once they clear external borders" Mireille explains. "In MEA, every country has its own customs rules, documentation requirements, banking constraints, currencies and languages. Even when the physical distance is short, cross-border flows remain complex and highly country-specific."
Her team's experience in navigating this complexity - from Saudi Arabia and the UAE to Morocco and South Africa - feeds directly back into the resilience and agility of the broader EMEA network. What MEA teams encounter today often points to what the rest of the region will face tomorrow.
"In Europe, the EU single market allows goods to move relatively smoothly once they clear external borders" Mireille explains. "In MEA, every country has its own customs rules, documentation requirements, banking constraints, currencies and languages. Even when the physical distance is short, cross-border flows remain complex and highly country-specific."
Her team's experience in navigating this complexity - from Saudi Arabia and the UAE to Morocco and South Africa - feeds directly back into the resilience and agility of the broader EMEA network. What MEA teams encounter today often points to what the rest of the region will face tomorrow.
What draws people to this work
Supply chain in specialty chemicals distribution is not a back-office function. The ingredients we work with are often critical to your formulations - without them, your production stops. That raises the stakes considerably, and it is part of what makes the work meaningful.
For Pierre, the reward lies in the daily collaboration: working across Azelis teams, strengthening partnerships with principals, and contributing directly to your production continuity. For Mireille and her colleagues in MEA, it is the ability to navigate exceptional complexity and still deliver - often under circumstances that test even the most experienced supply chain professionals.
The team's daily purpose is simple, even if executing it is anything but: ensure the right product reaches the right customer, on time and in full.
What comes next in this series
In this series, Pierre and Mireille explain how the Azelis supply chain network is built - and how it performs when conditions become volatile. Discover how today’s overlapping disruptions - geopolitical tensions, shipping lane congestion, fuel cost surges, regulatory complexity - affect your supply, and what it takes to navigate them without your supply stopping.
Behind every delivery, there is a team that made it happen. Now you know who they are.
