How Base Logistics Group scaled its operations without scaling its problems
Three merged companies, one unified platform, and instant visibility into who’s qualified for what.
A merger that made the old system impossible
When Joyce Faustin-van de Ven joined HealthLink (part of Base Logistics Group), the compliance operation was held together by department-level Excel files. Operating in the medical market means qualifications and proof of training are subject to regular audit, and the separate lists each department maintained made it impossible to get a clear picture of any of them.
Then the company merged with two others, and the employee headcount skyrocketed.
“Continuing to work in Excel just was not an option anymore,” Faustin-van de Ven said.
The problem that shows up on a Tuesday morning
Rather than the annual audit, one of the most concrete tests of any skills system is the moment a manager needs to immediately know who can cover an open shift.
“Consider the situation when an employee has time off, or goes on long-term sick leave, or on vacation,” Faustin-van de Ven said. “In that case, we want to be able to see right away which employee has the same qualifications, and can this person be assigned within that hall or within that team?”
With 600 employees spread across merged entities, each with their own training histories and role requirements, that question used to require phone calls, spreadsheet searches, and guesswork. Now it’s a dashboard lookup.
If an employee drops out, you can immediately look up which other employee has the same qualifications and is available.
Joyce Faustin-van de Ven
Manager Talent Management, Base Logistics Group
Adoption was the real challenge
Faustin-van de Ven is candid that getting everyone on board was harder than implementing a new system itself. One manager might be an enthusiastic early adopter, but another might barely remember Base Logistics had new software to use.
The key, then, was simplicity – something so easy to use, so seamlessly integrated in day-to-day operations, that it became difficult not to use it.
“I was afraid employees would say: ‘Another new tool we have to use, we already have so many.’ This is why it had to be a simple system that saves time rather than costs time. At the end of the day, we succeeded because AG5 is so user-friendly,” Faustin-van de Ven said.
Audit-ready by design
For a company operating under ISO certification requirements for medical devices, proof of training has a specific and non-negotiable format: the employee’s own signature confirming they’ve learned something, not just the trainer’s sign-off. AG5’s Digital Signature feature in the app meets that requirement directly.
During audits, the process is now straightforward. Managers (or employees themselves) pull up the dashboard, show where each employee stands on skills and competencies, and there’s your evidence.
It’s just a very convenient system. It is not rocket science – anyone can easily learn to use and apply it.
Joyce Faustin-van de Ven
Manager Talent Management, Base Logistics Group
AG5’s Personal Development feature has been integrated into Base Logistics’ working cadence, as well, with structured training and development-related conversations between managers and employees now backed by the live data behind them rather than manually compiled snapshots.
“Compared to a year ago, we have come a very long way,” Faustin-van de Ven said.
