Supply Chain Now en Espanol
Season 3, Episode 1

Resumen del Episodio

En este episodio de Supply Chain Now en español, el presentador Enrique Alvarez le da la bienvenida al programa a Camilo Pita, Gerente General de Cargo Trading. Escuche cómo Camilo comparte sobre su inicio temprano en la logística a los 17 años, cómo su inicio empresarial en Colombia fue desafiante, las características de una empresa de logística exitosa y mucho más.

Transcripción en Español

[00:00:37] ¿Qué tal? Muy buenos días y bienvenidos a otra edición muy, muy especial de Supply Chain Out en español. Mi nombre es Enrique Álvarez y hoy tengo el placer de tener a un buen amigo este, un colaborador y socio comercial y bueno también una persona que ha tenido una carrera muy exitosa. El gerente general de la empresa Cargo Trading en Colombia, Camilo Pita. ¿Qué tal Camilo? ¿Cómo estás? Muy buenas tardes.

 

[00:01:04] Hola Enrique, un placer. Saludos desde Colombia y un saludo también a toda la audiencia de su página.

 

[00:01:12] Pues muchísimas gracias nuevamente este video. Nos hemos tardado un par de meses en coordinar esta entrevista. Sé que ha estado con muchísimo trabajo, de hecho algo de eso lo platicaremos más adelante en la entrevista. Pero pero gracias de verdad. Este a nombre de todo el equipo de Supply Chain en español. Creo que es un placer tenerte acá y estoy seguro que la gente que nos escuche va a poder entender un poco más de quién es Camilo Pita y por qué cargo trading. Es una empresa tan exitosa y líder no solo a nivel de Colombia, sino a nivel de Latinoamérica y centro Sudamérica, Centroamérica y Norteamérica.

 

[00:01:51] ¿No? Muchas gracias a ti, Enrique, por tenernos en cuenta. Y claro que sí. La intención es poder compartir un poco de lo que somos nosotros como organización, como familia, con cargo, raiting y todo lo que gracias a Dios poco a poco hemos podido lograr en el tiempo.

 

[00:02:05] Empecemos con. Empecemos contigo, Camilo. Cuéntanos un poco más de ti para que te conozcamos un poco más como persona. Cuéntanos.

 

[00:02:15] Claro que sí. Bueno, tengo 37 años en este momento soy del año 84 y crecí en la ciudad de Bogotá, la capital de Colombia. Desde muy pequeño, pues me interesé mucho por ser competitivo en mis estudios. Salí del colegio Rafael Uribe, que está ubicado en el sector de El Tunal en Bogotá. Y posteriormente a mis 17 años, comencé por una familia que tengo en el mundo de la logística. Entré al mundo de la logística como empleado y ahí.

 

[00:02:53] Comencé a conocerme. A los 17 años dijiste.

 

[00:02:57] 17 años, Enrique Muy, muy joven. Entonces era muy, muy chico, muy joven todavía para. Para iniciar, pero. Pero fue una una de las bonitas oportunidades que Dios y la vida me ha dado y pude conocer todo lo que es este mundo de la logística, que para mí hoy por hoy es apasionante y es a lo que nos dedicamos.

 

[00:03:17] Y se nota, se nota en tu cultura, en tu empresa y en los empleados que tienes. Pero antes y antes de meternos a eso, al detalle este. Dejó antes de los 17 años y antes de que entraras este. ¿Cuéntanos un poco más qué es lo que te gusta? ¿Qué es lo que te gustaba hacer? ¿Qué te apasiona? ¿Cómo llegas al momento en el que este familiar te convence de que entres en la logística?

 

[00:03:42] Bueno, pues nada, como te comentaba en el colegio siempre me interesé por ser muy competitivo, siempre me interesé por ocupar los primeros puestos, siempre me interesé por hacer las cosas bien. Soy amante del fútbol también. En mi niñez. Y bueno, ahora en la actualidad también siempre ha sido así. El fútbol ha sido algo que ha estado, ha estado atado a mi vida, pero sí, desde niño lo practico, pero nunca se me dio el tema profesional. Entonces pues me convertí en en un amateur del fútbol.

 

[00:04:18] ¿A qué le vas? Camino. ¿Tienes tu equipo de fútbol ahora?

 

[00:04:22] Bueno, acá en Colombia le voy a el Atlético Nacional. Obviamente soy hincha de la Selección Colombia. Así inevitablemente pasen cosas como que nos dejaron fuera el Mundial.

 

[00:04:31] Pero después de eso.

 

[00:04:33] Sí, pero pues bueno, es, es nuestra selección y nuestro país. Y a nivel internacional me gusta mucho el fútbol español, me gusta mucho tanto el Barsa como el Real. Realmente yo sé que ellos tienen mucha rivalidad, pero creo que soy amante del buen fútbol y creo que los dos equipos, a pesar de ser diferentes, practican muy bien el fútbol.

 

[00:04:54] Perfecto. Bueno, entonces intentaste y tengo que confesar yo también ser futbolista profesional, pero. Pero la logística nos acabó enganchando más. Cuéntenos entonces, a los 17 años. Cómo estabas diciendo que te.

 

[00:05:11] Sí. Entonces. A los 17 años de edad.

 

[00:05:15] Debe de un pariente. Fue el que te acabo de invitar.

 

[00:05:18] Sí, sí. Una tía. Una tía que lleva cerca de 40 años en el mundo de la logística en Colombia. Y ella me. Me vincula, me vincula a la empresa en la que estaba en ese momento como empleado y yo comienzo a conocer lo que es el mundo de la logística y ya pues me apasiono, me gusta mucho. Posteriormente que bueno, más adelante iremos ampliando, pero pues ya me enrolé en esto con mi propia empresa y en algunos aspectos como empleado. Inicié en el 2000 y en el 2004 mi carrera de economista profesional. Soy economista de profesión, tengo una especialización en énfasis en comercio exterior. Y y he tomado diferentes cursos, seminarios, ferias y diferentes compromisos alrededor de toda América en estos casi cerca de 20 años de experiencia profesional en el mundo de la logística y me gradué en el 2010 como economista que fui. Te comento un poco con humildad, pero un poco de saca pecho. Fui la única mención de honor de mi promoción como economista en la universidad gracias al al desempeño durante toda la carrera. Y nada. Pues todo eso que se aprendió en la teoría, pues gracias a Dios lo hemos podido aplicar en la práctica, ya en los negocios y en la vida real de lo que es el trabajo.

 

[00:06:56] Alguien que en esa época admirabas, o alguien que pudo haber sido tu mentor, o alguien a quien le puedas atribuir uno que eras este, me imagino muy estudioso, muy bueno en calificaciones tanto en la escuela como luego en tu carrera. Pero alguien era una figura, algún líder que que admirabas en ese momento.

 

[00:07:19] ¿Pues Enrique, mira la verdad, siempre han pasado personas importantes, pues para bien y para mal en mi vida y le doy gracias a Dios porque de esas experiencias pues es lo que uno va formando de su carácter y su vida, no? Pero pero si han cruzado personas. Después de trabajar con mi tía trabajé con una persona que fue mi jefe en su momento, el cual me enseñó algunos tips importantes que me sirvieron luego para mi negocio. Pero más allá de pronto de tener una persona o un modelo a seguir o un mentor en todo esto como tú lo llamas, ha sido de pronto ver las experiencias de otras personas cercanas, como familiares, como mis padres, como amigos, en los cuales he visto que han tenido equivocaciones en sus vidas y he querido tal vez no replicar esas equivocaciones, sino ser mejor y utilizar esas equivocaciones de esas personas para para poder lograr algo mejor en mi vida.

 

[00:08:14] Claro. ¿Porque entonces te gradúas de manera exitosa y ya tenías la previo experiencia de trabajar en logística y estabas como economista exitoso, estabas pensando que ibas a regresar al rubro o empezaste a buscar otras opciones primero?

 

[00:08:33] ¿No? Pues te cuento, la empresa y la empresa cargo yo y dice crear antes de yo graduarme como economista. Fue una casualidad de las casualidades más hermosas que te ha pasado en mi vida, porque yo después de ser empleado en la compañía que te comento de de la persona que sí me dio unos tips importantes para mi vida y saliendo de esa empresa yo no había tomado vacaciones y decidí tomarme unas vacaciones, no sé, tal vez dos o tres meses porque no había tomado en varios años vacaciones y en ese espacio que yo he decidió descansar, me contacta una gente, un partner que ellos tenían en Centroamérica y al hacerme ese contacto ellos son los que me proponen que sí puedo manejarlos debido al buen servicio que había notado cuando yo era empleado, que si podía atenderles la mercancía de ellos en Colombia. Y a raíz de esa bonita casualidad es que se crea Carlos Training International en Colombia.

 

[00:09:34] Qué bien! Bueno, cuéntanos un poco tú en la parte de tu proceso de racionalizar todo eso. Bueno, te hablan. Habla bien de ti. Tenías buen servicio. Qué es lo que. Porque no es lo. Me imagino que lo practicaste mucho más fácil de lo que realmente es cuando eres emprendedor, cuando empiezas una empresa. Cuéntanos un poco los retos que tuviste que enfrentar. A lo mejor este al principio y luego una vez. Ciertamente que empezaste.

 

[00:10:05] Claro, pues inicialmente esa casualidad se presenta cuando yo apenas tenía 21 años, Enrique, y pues realmente era muy joven, ya llevaba cerca de cuatro años trabajando en logística, pero evidentemente no era ni un experto y realmente siempre en mi vida me he caracterizado por ser una persona responsable y de palabra. Cuando comprometo mi palabra, trato de que se dé cumplimiento a la misma. Entonces fue muy, muy sorprendente, pero a la misma vez es difícil tomar esa responsabilidad a los 21 años de crear empresa y de emprender, y en un sector donde definitivamente se me comencé a encontrar con muchas barreras y con muchos obstáculos, no tenía apoyo ni financiero, ni ni reconocimiento, ni eso. Hay muchas personas que en su momento hubieran podido prestar ese apoyo y no lo tenía. Entonces fue la decisión inicialmente mía de decirle a esas personas que me dieran un espacio, que me dieran unos días para poder pensarlo, para poder organizar y ver si podía responder de forma responsable, valga la redundancia, con todo lo que ellos me pedían. Entonces, el trabajo a seguir fue contactar con las personas del gremio que me conocían, que sabían quién era a pesar de lo joven, y ellos comienzan a abrirme las puertas. Hubo varias personas que me comentaron otras puertas y me dicen sí, inténtalo acá, te apoyamos, te podemos prestar los servicios y nos cuentas, crea la empresa. Entonces me meto en todo este mundo empresarial a comenzar la serie en una carrera contrarreloj, porque ellos necesitaban de forma urgente comenzar a mover las mercancías. Entonces ahí comienzo a conocer todo lo que es crear empresa, lo difícil que a veces es crear empresa, porque es evidente que muchas personas piensan que crear empresa y sacarla adelante es fácil y y lamentablemente pues no es tan fácil, no hay tanta ayuda a veces para hacerlo. Pero bueno, gracias a Dios aquí estamos con una empresa exitosa, organizada, responsable después de 16 años.

 

[00:12:11] Y que tanto fue el apoyo del gobierno, porque tenemos muchos, muchos. Muchos obstáculos como empresarios en algún momento. Y hay ciertamente algunos países en Latinoamérica que probablemente ayudan más al emprendedor que otros comparados con los de Europa o Estados Unidos. ¿Que qué tal? ¿Qué tan difícil es abrir una empresa en Colombia? ¿Darla de alta, empezar a correr, regularizar? ¿Y cómo ha cambiado eso? Me imagino. Durante los años eso ha cambiado. Tú viviste y pusiste tu empresa en una Colombia muy diferente a la que se vive el día de hoy. Entonces, si pudieras darnos un poco de contexto de la época y luego de de tus servicios como empresas, estaría excelente para nuestra audiencia. O sea.

 

[00:13:01] Bajo qué.

 

[00:13:02] ¿Colombia arrancaste cargo trading?

 

[00:13:06] Claro que sí. Pues mira, te cuento que en el momento en el que se arregló Carlos Trading en Colombia no tenía muchos apoyos al emprendimiento, no habían programas muy serios para dar apoyo al emprendimiento y al emprendimiento juvenil, porque finalmente, pues yo estaba en una edad muy joven cuando. Cuando decidí emprender. Entonces básicamente los apoyos del gobierno fueron nulos. Si teníamos que hacer una tramitología para dar de alta la empresa que se hizo los documentos ante Cámara de Comercio, notarías, etcétera Pero el apoyo del gobierno prácticamente en su momento fue nulo. Solamente habían unos apoyos tributarios a la compañía durante los primeros cinco años, en los cuales si no pagabas renta, te hacían algunas deducciones de impuestos durante los primeros cinco años, a fin de que obviamente el negocio fuera cogiendo forma y fuera creciendo y no castigarlo con el tema de los impuestos. Pero digamos que asesorías, programas de pronto de acompañamiento y eso, la verdad no pudimos acceder o no estaban en su momento. Sé que hay programas de emprendimiento muy fuertes ahora en Colombia. Colombia desde hace unos años, con la última presidencia y la anterior han trabajado mucho en el tema del emprendimiento. Hay programas específicos para emprendimiento de jóvenes, hay programas específicos para emprendimiento de sectores y hoy por hoy están apoyando tanto a temas de acompañamiento y asesoría como algunos programas económicos para la creación de nuevas empresas. Respecto de nuestro sector Enrique, te puedo comentar que el cargo trading y pues el sector en general logística tiene algunas restricciones o unas barreras de entrada muy importantes por medio de la de la Dian de la Aduana que es la DIAN en Colombia, porque hoy por hoy exigen unas pólizas para poder dar de alta la compañía que certifiquen el cumplimiento de lo que hacemos en comercio exterior y las responsabilidades, obviamente actividades ilícitas que tenemos nosotros como actores en el comercio internacional. Entonces esas pólizas ya no es tan fácil conseguirlas. Entonces, para los emprendedores de hoy, pues sí es un poco una barrera para poder generar. Sin embargo, nunca va a ser imposible. Creo que las limitantes siempre van a estar en la mente de nosotros.

 

[00:15:19] Sí, totalmente. Y bueno, Colombia ha pasado por varias etapas de crecimiento como país y como sociedad. Y bueno, esta parte de las actividades ilícitas que mencionas, la logística, me imagino que era uno de los principales blancos de muchos cárteles y otras organizaciones ilícitas. Entonces creo que tienes que tener particular atención. Sigue eso similar o ha cambiado un poco desde el punto de vista de del narcotráfico y el y la del crimen organizado en relación a la logística en particular.

 

[00:15:59] Sí. Pues bueno, te cuento que ha sido un riesgo latente que hemos tenido nosotros los actores de comercio exterior en Colombia. Y pues bueno, ya, lamentablemente en otros países, México, Perú, Ecuador, son otros actores que han comenzado a entrar muy fuerte en todo este tema del narcotráfico y las actividades ilícitas, el lavado de activos y demás. ¿Sin embargo, es un riesgo que tenemos latente y que nosotros como compañía trabajamos muy fuerte en el conocimiento de nuestros asociados de negocio desde el primer contacto, el primer correo electrónico, la primera solicitud de cotización, a fin de poder verificar quiénes son esos socios, quiénes son esos empleados? Quiénes son las actividades que realizan. Entonces nosotros hacemos actividades como comprobar si la empresa es de muebles, dónde hacen los muebles, cómo los hacen, qué trayectoria tienen, etcétera. Entonces sí tenemos como un acompañamiento muy fuerte con nuestros clientes y lamentablemente en algunas ocasiones por el nivel de riesgo que representan las operaciones que a veces nos piden cotizar, hemos tenido que decir como empresa que no prestamos el servicio porque tenemos que ser responsable en eso, tanto nosotros como compañía, con nuestros empleados y también con nuestros partners en el exterior, que son a los que les despachamos sus mercancías. Entonces sí, eso sí es lamentablemente una falla que tiene el sector debido a estas actividades y a las personas que que trabajan en esas. En esas actividades están tan perversas y tan malas. Pero como compañía tratamos de trabajar, tratamos de brindarnos con buenos asociados y tratamos de trabajar siempre en aras de hacer unas operaciones limpias y obviamente lícitas.

 

[00:17:43] Sí, claro. Y bueno, tiene un proceso, me imagino muy estricto para tratar de minimizar cualquier tipo de problemas en ese aspecto. Y me imagino que eso ha sido también clave importante del éxito y crecimiento de tu empresa.

 

[00:17:58] Sí, así es, Enrique. Trabajamos muy de la mano. Trabajamos siete años con bags, que es una. Es una certificación, una agremiación que hay, que propende toda esta cultura segura en el comercio exterior y la empresa estuvo certificada siete años. En este momento nosotros no pertenecemos al programa porque estamos de cara a poder trabajar en el programa Huella, que está pronto a ingresar en Colombia para los agentes de carga y nada. Nos aportó mucha organización, mucha cultura de seguridad, mucha cultura de acompañamiento con nuestros asociados y como te digo, se hace un procedimiento previo a las operaciones tanto de socios de la empresa, de las actividades, para poder de alguna forma minimizar esos riesgos que implican las actividades ilícitas de Colombia.

 

[00:18:47] También lo como me dijiste que se llamaba la primera certificación que tenían Bugs vas.

 

[00:18:53] ¿Vas?

 

[00:18:54] Vea eso.

 

[00:18:56] Vea SS.

 

[00:18:58] Ve SS para ponerla también en los comentarios. Me imagino que ayudó a ti. Creo que puede ser importante que la gente que esté en este rubro lo conozca, a lo mejor lo explore. Y la parte de la OEA también, que se ve que es una nueva programa muy importante para empresas logísticas como la tuya. Cuéntanos remontándonos otra vez, entonces tomás unos días, piensas un poco. Los proveedores te apoyan por el récord que tenías con ellos, la relación que tenías de buen servicio y dices bueno, adelante, vamos para adelante.

 

[00:19:37] Sí, Enrique. Sí, básicamente fue. Se toma la decisión, se crea la compañía. Bueno, ahí realmente comenzó lo difícil. Fue realmente. Ahí era donde iniciaba lo difícil. Entonces se crea la empresa y comienzas a encontrar. Es que conseguir clientes no es fácil. Una compañía nueva no es fácil. Te encuentras con restricciones como créditos que empresas como DHL, como logística, como Yuri Nagel, como todas estas compañías, tienen acostumbrados el mercado a créditos a grandes capitales invertidos en sus bodegas. Entonces encuentras todas esas restricciones que que comienza a darte cuenta que ingresar al mercado no es tan fácil. Entonces lo que decidimos es llevar la bandera al servicio. Enrique Siendo conscientes que a nivel financiero y a nivel de infraestructura no íbamos a poder competir porque éramos una empresa prácticamente con cero capital y una compañía que estaba apenas ingresando al mercado y necesitábamos generar una bandera de servicio en el cual comenzáramos a generar una atención diferente a los clientes. Entonces es con esto que nosotros comenzamos a trabajar con una fórmula de atender a los clientes. 24 siete atenderle una llamada a un cliente a la hora que el cliente lo necesita e atender un correo electrónico a la hora que el cliente lo necesita.

 

[00:21:04] Comenzar a trabajar en turnos cambiados para poder atender las diferencias horarias de diferentes países y comenzar a decirle al cliente que vamos a generar un acompañamiento en sus operaciones logísticas, que vamos a generar una asesoría, que vamos a involucrarnos hasta en sus órdenes de compra a fin de poder asesorarle y apoyarle y generar un valor agregado en todas sus operaciones de comercio exterior. Enrique Y con eso, con esa, con esa fórmulas que hemos podido mantenernos en el mercado durante todo este tiempo, porque evidentemente las tarifas de las grandes compañías en muchas veces son mucho más competitivas que las nuestras. Lo que te digo a veces acá en Colombia dicen si me das el flete te regalo la aduana y así entonces son, son políticas comerciales que son difíciles para nosotros competir, pero el buen servicio. Hay muchos clientes que lo valoran y tenemos muchos clientes con nosotros que son conscientes que ese buen servicio tiene un precio y están dispuestos a pagarnos por lo que nosotros hacemos.

 

[00:22:05] Bueno, y es una idea para su momento, me imagino en la industria logística en Colombia de esos tiempos, pues bastante novedosa. Me imagino el responder el teléfono 24 horas al día o el comenzar a trabajar en turnos diferentes. Me imagino que eras de los únicos que hacía eso. ¿No?

 

[00:22:26] Sí, efectivamente, Enrique. ¿Qué pasaba en el momento después de las cinco y 30 que normalmente termina la hora laboral en Colombia? Ya nadie te contestaba el teléfono, ya tu correo electrónico se quedaba. Entonces sí comenzamos a captar clientes que tenían esa necesidad de servicio. Obviamente hay clientes que tienen la necesidad de servicio, pero quiere que sea el mismo precio de un DHL y eso. Y pues lamentablemente como yo les digo, pues sabemos que a veces quisiéramos que fuera un país Alicia en el país de las Maravillas, pero pues no lo es. Enrique, entonces no se puede. Tenemos que hacer un balance, no hacer un balance que es lo que lo que más nos sirve y nada. Hay clientes en esta industria para todos los tipos, tamaños y todo. Lo importante es poder responder con responsabilidad con lo que nos podemos comprometer.

 

[00:23:17] Totalmente de acuerdo. Y bueno, eso también nuevamente prueba el éxito que ha tenido cargo trading en el mercado. Cuéntanos un poco sobre los servicios que ofrece Cargo Trading. ¿No hemos hecho oficialmente una, digamos, presentación de qué servicios son? ¿En que industrias se enfocan, que regiones son las que cubren? Y bueno, un poco para que la gente que nos esté escuchando tenga también un poco de contexto sobre esto que estás diciendo en las llamadas 24 horas al día, los mails, etcétera.

 

[00:23:48] Claro que sí. Bueno, nosotros llevamos 16 años en el mercado de servicios. En este momento estamos en la capacidad de ofrecer todos los servicios de un operador logístico. Tenemos transporte internacional en sus modalidades aéreas, marítimas y terrestres, tenemos servicios de intermediación aduanera para todo lo que es esa aduana, que es tanto de importación como de exportación. Tenemos servicios de almacenaje de algunos productos muy puntuales, no almacenamos toda la clase de productos, pero sí recibimos las solicitudes a fin de buscar una solución. Logística en almacenaje. Tenemos servicio de entrega de última milla, distribución en las principales ciudades de Colombia. Tenemos los servicios de asesoría y consultoría en en temas muy específicos de comercio exterior, que lo hacemos por medio de asesores externos, pero prestamos servicio con con un acompañamiento muy, muy eficaz y eficiente cuando nuestros clientes lo necesitan. Tenemos servicio de atención de ferias internacionales cuando los clientes quieren venir a prestar sus servicios o sus productos de ventas en ferias internacionales que organiza Colombia. Nosotros estamos en la capacidad de traer sus productos, recibirlos, colocarlos en el punto de atención de la feria, el stand donde vayan a estar y si es de retorno, se vuelve y se hace todo el empaque, se recoge del stand, se hace todos los trámites de aduana de entrada y de salida y se puede retornar a sus países. Todos sus servicios los hacemos y los prestamos y en general pues hacemos todo lo que es logística, de transporte internacional, de mercancías. No.

 

[00:25:27] No, perfecto y bueno, una gama de servicios bastante bastante completa, incluyendo la parte de consultoría y las entregas de última milla, que no todo el mundo hace y son difíciles con sus propias características. Cada una de ellas no camino. Si nos contando un poco la progresión de la empresa, empezaste en Bogotá, me imagino. Ahí es donde tuvieron los primeros años y luego empezaron poco a poco a crecer. Cuéntanos un poco más de Twitter.

 

[00:25:57] Claro que sí. Nosotros pues evidentemente iniciamos en Bogotá, aquí de hecho esta fue nuestra oficina principal. Ya en este momento nosotros tenemos atención en Medellín, en Barranquilla, en Cartagena y en Buenaventura, y obviamente en Bogotá tenemos operaciones propias también por la frontera terrestre y con Ecuador en Ipiales. Y nada, pues ya contamos con Partner alrededor del mundo, prácticamente cubriendo todo el mundo. Y tenemos partner con los que tenemos mercancías recíprocas, que trabajamos muy bien hace muchos años. Han sido empresas con las cuales hemos podido generar un ambiente de confianza al alrededor en especialmente en América, desde Estados Unidos hasta Argentina. Pero tenemos operaciones también con Asia y Europa. No es nuestro fuerte en este momento, es América. Desde. Desde el norte hasta el sur. Nosotros en este momento no estamos muy fuertes en todo el tema de lo que es Asia. Y más que todo se intensificó desde la pandemia, porque los fletes, el alto valor de los fletes que generó todo este tema de la pandemia, pues básicamente nos hizo pensar que no era un nicho muy conveniente para los nuestra compañía era demasiado capital el que había que invertir versus una utilidad mínima que el mercado nos estaba permitiendo. Entonces en este momento no estamos trabajando mucho. El tema de Asia, sin embargo, no quiere decir que no atendamos el el mercado se atiende, tenemos los paneles y podemos hacerlo. Sin embargo, se revisa muy bien las condiciones de cantidades y cupos de crédito que el cliente pueda solicitar.

 

[00:27:42] Claro, hoy este contando un poco, adelantándonos un poco a ahora y nuevamente un poco los retos que tenemos. Mencionaste brevemente la pandemia. Cuéntanos un poco más los retos que enfrentaron en Colombia, en particular tu empresa durante la pandemia. ¿Y bueno, qué retos tienes ahora? ¿Cuál ha sido realmente algo que has visto en el mercado? Este moviéndonos un poco hacia el futuro y hacia tu perspectiva de la logística en Latinoamérica y en particular en Colombia, hacia un futuro.

 

[00:28:16] Claro que sí, Enrique. Pues mira, indiscutiblemente la pandemia es algo que no solo a Colombia sino al mundo entero. Creo que la toma un poco desprevenida. Es algo para lo que seguramente no estábamos preparados y tan rápido de generar un cambio tan rápido en el mundo y Colombia no fue la excepción. Inicialmente a nosotros se da el confinamiento del total del país, lo cual genera que prácticamente las operaciones queden reducidas. Nosotros, sin embargo, fuimos un sector en el que el gobierno por decreto dejó seguir funcionando porque la logística no podía parar. Era dejar a los hogares sin alimentos, era dejar los hogares sin servicios. Habían cosas de primera necesidad que tenían que funcionar. Entonces la logística fue ese sector. Eso nos permitió de alguna forma seguir operando, pero estábamos en la coyuntura entre seguir operando por un lado, pero la salud y las vidas humanas por el otro no. Entonces lo que lo que se hace es obviamente generar un tema de trabajo en casa, donde podamos seguir operando en la compañía, pero desde las comodidades y desde la seguridad de cada uno de los hogares, de los de las personas que trabajábamos y de alguna forma generar también en los clientes la confiabilidad de que íbamos a poder seguir atendiendo sus operaciones, porque teníamos empresas en industrias de alimentos que necesitaban seguir moviendo sus cosas, moviendo sus su cadena de suministro y generando la producción de sus productos para llegar a los hogares.

 

[00:29:53] Entonces fue un trabajo en el cual no fue tan fácil porque algunas compañías sí frenaron conseguir los conductores. Ya no era tan fácil conseguir quien estuviera pendiente de unos cargos no era tan fácil. Entonces sí, fueron unos meses de mucha incertidumbre y donde las operaciones tal vez no fluían a la misma velocidad que antes de la pandemia. Sin embargo, rápidamente se fue solucionando y pudimos seguir operando con nuestros clientes. Pudimos apoyar a todos nuestros clientes que de los cuales tuvimos compromisos de mercancías y bueno, eso nos lleva a seguir adelante. En este momento también pasamos. Enrique te comento en el radar nosotros posterior a pandemia cerca hace un año largo pasamos por un paro civil muy muy fuerte, fue una situación que no habíamos salido de la pandemia y se nos vienen estas protestas civiles que prácticamente paralizaron el país.

 

[00:30:49] ¿Entonces esto fue, esto fue cuando camino, en qué época? Porque eso va en.

 

[00:30:54] Paralelo con lo que pasó en Siria entre los meses de febrero, inicia y fue terminando hacia el mes de junio del año pasado, un.

 

[00:31:03] Estallido social similar a lo que se vivió en Chile, un poco a raíz de lo mismo.

 

[00:31:08] ¿Verdad? Muy, muy, muy similar. Es más, creo que muchos de los jóvenes y de las personas que estaban inmersas en la protesta tomaban el modelo como chip de chileno para replicarlo en lo que estaba sucediendo. Te hablo de que el país quedó paralizado. Cerraron prácticamente las conexiones importantes desde el interior hacia los puertos, vías principales, ciudades principales. Las personas no podíamos salir de casa por la violencia y la inseguridad que está viviendo en esos días. Entonces, sumado a la pandemia, realmente fueron dos o tres meses muy, muy difíciles en los que luego la logística tiene un reto importante y es cómo seguimos operando en medio de esa dificultad. Para para darte un panorama. A nosotros nos tocó hasta surfear aviones pequeños para poder tratar de mover algunas mercancías urgentes porque quedaban atascadas en algunas ciudades intermedias. Con todos estos paros y todos estos bloqueos, entonces tuvimos que volver a generar estrategias para poder seguir cumpliendo a los clientes. Y como desde el principio ha sido la bandera, pues hemos podido salir adelante y seguir cumpliendo con todo lo que nos comprometemos a los clientes en medio de tantas dificultades. Enrique.

 

[00:32:24] ¿Camilo, en base a tu opinión y tu experiencia, cuáles serían las tres principales causas de de tu cultura, de tu éxito, de la empresa? Veo, y por los ejemplos que has dado, que no solo tienen la creatividad, la innovación, la bandera del servicio, sino que se han ajustado rápidamente a las condiciones de mercado. ¿Como líder y como emprendedor, cuál crees que serían las tres características que hacen de una empresa buena empresa como la tuya?

 

[00:32:59] Bueno Enrique, primero creo que somos una empresa que se adapta con mucha facilidad al cambio y eso nos ha permitido no solamente a los cambios generales de país y globales, sino a los cambios a veces de los mismos clientes. Los clientes a su interior a veces tienen cambios que nos cambian la forma de trabajar con ellos, nos cambian la logística y somos una compañía que trabajamos por adaptarnos muy rápido. Entonces creo que eso ha sido un pilar importante. Indiscutiblemente. Enrique. Poder dar. Buen. Buena responsabilidad. La palabra es a lo que nos comprometemos. Que el cliente tenga la confianza y la confiabilidad de que cuando la empresa le dice que va a trabajar por algo de sus necesidades, va a encontrar una solución para poder apoyar a sus operaciones. Creo que eso ha sido indiscutiblemente muy importante para la relación que tenemos con todos nuestros clientes y nuestros proveedores, obviamente. Y lo último, Enrique, es que creo que hemos sido una empresa muy, muy, muy responsable en el manejo de las finanzas. Somos una empresa que ningún proveedor durante todos estos 16 años puede decir que hemos quedado mal con ninguno de nuestros compromisos a lo largo de todo este tiempo, y eso ha hecho un ambiente de confianza muy, muy bonito, tanto con los proveedores como con los clientes.

 

[00:34:22] Oye, pues bueno, obviamente los que nos están escuchando. Adaptarse al cambio. Confianza. Que la palabra vale mucho. Y bueno tener la responsabilidad en el manejo de las finanzas. Eso es un poco la clave del éxito de Camilo o de su equipo y de cargo. Trading está en Colombia. ¿Camilo Volviendo un poco, ya al día de hoy, cómo ves la situación económica? ¿Cómo ves el panorama? ¿Qué tipo de variables o indicadores son los que tú y tu equipo siguen y consideran al día a día?

 

[00:35:01] Claro que sí, Enrique. En este momento hay algunas variables económicas que indiscutiblemente nos impactan a nosotros como compañía y como sector, que en este momento estamos viendo una volatilidad muy grande con la tasa de cambio de dólar. Tenemos una inflación en Colombia muy alta, hace 22 años no teníamos una inflación de este tipo, pero sabemos que también es un fenómeno global en el que Colombia no puede ser ajeno. Y esta, y estas son algunas de las variables que indiscutiblemente impactan a todos los sectores y impactan a la cantidad de movimientos logísticos que los países tienen, generando un poco de retroceso económico. Pero el país, después de pandemia, ha reaccionado muy bien. Muchos sectores se han acomodado a la nueva realidad del mundo y de los servicios y de los productos y viene funcionando bien la economía a pesar de estos problemas que que comentamos en el pasado. También nosotros, como sector y como compañía, nos estamos enfrentando a la deficiencia de poder generar o poder tener mano de obra calificada y dispuesta a trabajar muy bien por por los clientes y por lo que es la compañía. Lamentablemente nos enfrentamos a que la nueva generación no está tan dispuesta a un tema de de responsabilidad, de un poco, de ajustarse a horarios diferentes, de saber que si hay que trabajar cinco minutos más puede ser por la responsabilidad de una operación muy grande de un cliente y todo este tipo de cosas que la nueva generación tal vez está un poco adversa a enrolarse. En todo este tema se nos ha generado una gran dificultad y un gran reto a solucionar. Sin embargo, pues estamos trabajando muy de la mano en tratar de de entender esa nueva generación, saber de pronto cómo podemos motivar esa nueva generación y tratar de generar como unos aspectos de beneficio adicionales a lo que son los los salarios de ley para poder enganchar esa nueva generación y que podamos seguir dando un buen servicio a nuestros clientes.

 

[00:37:16] Y me decías no platicábamos.

 

[00:37:17] Yo como Enrique, pues creo que uno de los problemas que estamos teniendo en este momento muy complicados es la competencia que se nos viene de los mismos prestadores de servicios navieros. Yo no sé cómo está funcionando, pero en otros países cercanos, pero de unos meses para acá en Colombia, las líneas navieras han tomado la decisión de dejar de atendernos a nosotros como agentes de carga y operadores logísticos y comenzar a atender directamente a los clientes directos. Esto hace que sea un poco de competencia desleal. Lo he comentado yo con con algunos colegas del sector, porque finalmente ellos son los dueños del medio de transporte, pero a la misma vez se niegan a prestarnos el servicio nosotros para prestárselo a nuestros clientes. Entonces siento que es como si de alguna forma forzada trataran de dejarnos fuera del del radar y el mercado es otro problema.

 

[00:38:16] Ese es un problema importante que yo creo que ameritaría su propio, su propio panel o entrevista. Nosotros lo hemos vivido de la misma manera en muchos otros países. Hablo, por ejemplo, diciendo que ya no voy a embarcar. ¿Qué otras navieras han hecho? ¿Han tomado esta estrategia en Colombia y cómo lo están? ¿Cómo lo estás manejando con tu equipo y con otras navieras?

 

[00:38:41] Actualmente lo está haciendo Hamburg South, pero hay que recordar que en ambos su vez Mercy Land no compra entonces prácticamente Hamburg Summer Land tiene. Y hemos notado que también tanto Japan Japan Ley como Mediterranean Shipping están haciendo lo mismo. Entonces, pues si tu miras esas navieras que menciono, pues seguramente estamos hablando de más del 60% de la oferta naviera del mundo. Entonces sí se puede generar un problema y como tú lo dices, seguramente es un tema que puede tener tanto de largo como de ancho y seguramente habilitará un panel exclusivo a ese tema.

 

[00:39:22] Eso es una. Es un si, es un problema, una estrategia que definitivamente va a causar muchos cambios en nuestra industria y habrá que entenderlos más a detalle. Tienes toda la razón Camilo, podríamos platicar horas y horas. Ha sido una excelente plática, pero bueno, ya estamos un poco cerrando nuestra entrevista. ¿Hay algo en particular que quisieras compartir con nuestra audiencia que a lo mejor no tocamos?

 

[00:39:51] No Enrique pues antes que nada quiero manifestar a toda la audiencia que salir adelante, que emprender, que ser, ser bueno en lo que hacemos, si es posible solamente, definitivamente hay que poner de parte nuestra y que es bueno aportar nuestro granito de arena para seguir adelante, para hacer las cosas bien, no solamente del emprendimiento de dueños de empresas, sino que cuando también son empleados, cuando son colaboradores de compañías que de alguien que quiso emprender y hacer las cosas bien en esas compañías, también implica que están colocando un grano de arena para el progreso, el crecimiento tanto de sus compañías como de sus países.

 

[00:40:32] Estoy totalmente de acuerdo. ¿Y bueno Camilo, cómo las personas que nos escuchan y quisieran contactarte a ti cargo trading, cual es la mejor manera de contactarlos? ¿Cual es la mejor manera de ponerse en comunicación con ustedes?

 

[00:40:46] Nada. Pues tenemos nuestro correo electrónico que siempre se revisa a pesar de que es un correo electrónico de contacto de página web que es info arroba cargo trading punto net es un correo en el que nos pueden escribir todas las personas que quieran contactarnos para las diferentes cosas en las que le podamos aportar esta nuestra página web triple doble u punto cuatro trading por poner y estamos en facebook como cargo trading y en Instagram como cargo trading pegado.

 

[00:41:14] Perfecto, Camilo. Un placer. Ya saben, si quieren contactar a cargo Trading o a Camilo ya tienen ahí los contactos. Y bueno, un gusto platicar contigo como siempre. Nuevamente una empresa vanguardista, muy creativa y haciendo las cosas bien dentro de la logística. Es un orgullo conocerlos, es un placer trabajar con con ustedes y bueno, sigan adelante. Creo que en base a tu cultura y liderazgo le han dado el ejemplo a muchos de otras empresas logísticas en Latinoamérica, así es que nuevamente un placer tenerte aquí. Muchas gracias por darnos el tiempo y a los demás y a la audiencia si les gustan este tipo de pláticas, si se les hacen interesantes estos temas, no dejen de suscribirse nuevamente. Mi nombre es Enrique Alvarez y esto fue Supply Chain en español. Hasta la próxima.

Episode Summary

In this episode of Supply Chain Now en Espanol, host Enrique Alvarez welcomes Camilo Pita, General Manager of Cargo Trading, to the show.  Listen as Camilo shares about his early start in logistics at 17, how his start in entrepreneurship in Colombia was challenging, the characteristics of a successful logistics company, and so much more.

Episode Transcript

[00:00:37] How are you doing? Good morning and welcome to another very, very special edition of Supply Chain Out in Spanish. My name is Enrique Alvarez and today I have the pleasure of having a good friend of mine, a collaborator and business partner and also a person who has had a very successful career. Camilo Pita, general manager of Cargo Trading in Colombia. How about Camilo? How are you? Good afternoon.

 

[00:01:04] Hi Enrique, a pleasure. Greetings from Colombia and greetings also to all the audience of your page.

 

[00:01:12] Thank you very much again for this video. It took us a couple of months to coordinate this interview. I know he has been very busy, in fact some of that we will talk about later in the interview. But thank you very much. This is on behalf of the entire Supply Chain team in Spanish. I think it is a pleasure to have you here and I am sure that people who listen to us will be able to understand a little more about who Camilo Pita is and why he is in charge of trading. It is such a successful and leading company not only in Colombia, but also in Latin and Central South America, Central America and North America.

 

[00:01:51] No? Thank you very much to you, Enrique, for taking us into account. And of course it is. The intention is to be able to share a little of what we are as an organization, as a family, with position, raiting and everything that, thanks to God, little by little we have been able to achieve over time.

 

[00:02:05] Let’s start with. Let’s start with you, Camilo. Tell us a little more about yourself so we can get to know you a little better as a person. Tell us about it.

 

[00:02:15] Of course it is. Well, I am 37 years old at the moment, I am from the year 84 and I grew up in the city of Bogota, the capital of Colombia. Since I was very young, I was very interested in being competitive in my studies. I left the Rafael Uribe school, which is located in the El Tunal sector of Bogota. And then when I was 17, I started for a family I have in the logistics world. I entered the logistics world as an employee and there.

 

[00:02:53] I began to know myself. At 17 you said.

 

[00:02:57] 17 years old, Enrique Very, very young. So I was very, very young, very young still. To start, but. But it was one of the beautiful opportunities that God and life has given me, and I was able to learn about the world of logistics, which for me today is exciting and is what we are dedicated to.

 

[00:03:17] And it shows, it shows in your culture, in your company and in the employees you have. But first and before we get into that, to this detail. He left before he was 17 and before you entered this one. Tell us a little more about what you like? What did you like to do? What are you passionate about? How do you get to the point where this family member convinces you to enter logistics?

 

[00:03:42] Well, as I was telling you in school I was always interested in being very competitive, I was always interested in being at the top, I was always interested in doing things well. I am a soccer lover as well. In my childhood. And well, nowadays it has always been like that too. Soccer has been something that has been, has been tied to my life, but yes, since I was a child I have practiced it, but I was never given the professional aspect. So I became a soccer amateur.

 

[00:04:18] What are you going for? Road. Do you have your soccer team now?

 

[00:04:22] Well, here in Colombia I go to Atlético Nacional. Obviously I am a fan of the Colombian National Team. So things inevitably happen like we were left out of the World Cup.

 

[00:04:31] But after that.

 

[00:04:33] Yes, but well, it is, it is our national team and our country. And at the international level I like Spanish soccer very much, I like both Barsa and Real. I really know that they have a lot of rivalry, but I think that I am a lover of good soccer and I think that both teams, despite being different, play very good soccer.

 

[00:04:54] Perfect. Well, then you tried and I have to confess I also tried to be a professional soccer player, but. But the logistics ended up hooking us more. Tell us then, at the age of 17. How were you saying that you.

 

[00:05:11] Yes. Then. At 17 years of age.

 

[00:05:15] Must be from a relative. It was the one I just invited you to.

 

[00:05:18] Yes, yes. An aunt. An aunt who has been in the logistics business in Colombia for nearly 40 years. And she me. It linked me, it linked me to the company where I was at the time as an employee and I began to learn about the world of logistics and I became passionate about it, I really liked it. Later on, we will expand on this, but I have already been involved in this with my own company and in some aspects as an employee. I began my career as a professional economist in 2000 and in 2004. I am an economist by profession, with a specialization in foreign trade. And I have taken different courses, seminars, trade shows and different engagements all over America in these almost 20 years of professional experience in the world of logistics and I graduated in 2010 as an economist that I was. I comment a little humbly, but a little chest-thumping. I was the only honorable mention of my promotion as an economist at the university thanks to my performance throughout my career. And nothing. Well, all that we learned in theory, thank God we have been able to apply it in practice, in business and in the real life of work.

 

[00:06:56] Someone that at the time you looked up to, or someone who may have been your mentor, or someone that you can attribute one that you were this, I imagine very studious, very good at grades both in school and then in your career. But someone was a figurehead, some leader you admired at the time.

 

[00:07:19] Well, Enrique, look at the truth, important people have always passed through my life, for better and for worse, and I thank God because it is from those experiences that one forms one’s character and life, right? But they have crossed people. After working with my aunt, I worked with a person who was my boss at the time, who taught me some important tips that later helped me in my business. But beyond having a person or a role model or a mentor in all this, as you call it, it has been to see the experiences of other people close to me, such as family members, my parents, my friends, in whom I have seen that they have had mistakes in their lives and I have wanted perhaps not to replicate those mistakes, but to be better and use those mistakes of those people to be able to achieve something better in my life.

 

[00:08:14] Of course. Why then, because you successfully graduated and you already had the previous experience of working in logistics and you were a successful economist, were you thinking that you were going to return to the field or did you start looking for other options first?

 

[00:08:33] No? Well, I’ll tell you, the company and the company I was in charge of and said to be created before I graduated as an economist. It was one of the most beautiful coincidences that has happened in my life, because after being an employee in the company that I told you about the person who gave me some important tips for my life and leaving that company I had not taken a vacation and decided to take a vacation, I do not know, maybe two or three months because I had not taken vacations in several years and in that space that I decided to rest, I was contacted by a partner that they had in Central America and when I made that contact they are the ones who proposed me that I could manage them due to the good service that I had noticed when I was an employee, that if I could attend their merchandise in Colombia. And as a result of this beautiful coincidence, Carlos Training International was created in Colombia.

 

[00:09:34] How nice! Well, tell us a little bit about you on the part of your process of streamlining all that. Well, they talk to you. It speaks well of you. You had good service. What is what. Because it is not. I imagine that you practice it much easier than it really is when you are an entrepreneur, when you start a company. Tell us a little about the challenges you had to face. Maybe this one at the beginning and then once. You certainly started it.

 

[00:10:05] Of course, initially this coincidence occurred when I was only 21 years old, Enrique, and I was really very young, I had been working in logistics for about four years, but obviously I was not an expert and I have always been characterized by being a responsible person and a person of my word. When I commit my word, I try to make sure it is kept. So it was very, very surprising, but at the same time it is difficult to take that responsibility at 21 years of age to create a company and to start a business, and in a sector where I definitely began to encounter many barriers and obstacles, I had no financial support, no recognition, nothing like that. There are many people who at the time could have provided that support and did not have it. So it was my initial decision to tell those people to give me some space, to give me a few days to think about it, to be able to organize and see if I could respond in a responsible way, it is worth the redundancy, with everything they asked me. So, the next step was to contact people in the trade who knew me, who knew who I was despite my youth, and they began to open doors for me. There were several people who told me about other doors and said yes, try it here, we support you, we can provide you with services and you tell us about it, create the company. So I get into this whole entrepreneurial world to start the series in a race against the clock, because they urgently needed to start moving the goods. So there I begin to know everything about creating a company, how difficult it is sometimes to create a company, because it is evident that many people think that creating a company and taking it forward is easy and unfortunately it is not so easy, there is not so much help sometimes to do it. But well, thank God here we are with a successful, organized, responsible company after 16 years.

 

[00:12:11] And how much was the government support, because we have many, many. Many obstacles as entrepreneurs at some point. And there are certainly some countries in Latin America that probably help entrepreneurs more than others compared to Europe or the United States. How about? How difficult is it to start a business in Colombia? Discharge, start running, regularize? And how has that changed? I can imagine. Over the years that has changed. You lived and set up your company in a Colombia very different from the one we live in today. So, if you could give us a little bit of context of the time and then of your services as a company, that would be great for our audience. In other words.

 

[00:13:01] Under what.

 

[00:13:02] Did you start trading in Colombia?

 

[00:13:06] Of course it is. Well, look, I tell you that at the time when Carlos Trading was arranged in Colombia there was not much support for entrepreneurship, there were no very serious programs to support entrepreneurship and youth entrepreneurship, because finally, I was at a very young age when I started. When I decided to start a business. So basically the government’s support was nil. If we had to go through the paperwork to register the company, we had to file the documents with the Chamber of Commerce, notaries, etc. But the government’s support at the time was practically nil. There was only some tax support for the company during the first five years, in which if you did not pay income, they gave you some tax deductions during the first five years, so that obviously the business would take shape and grow and not punish it with the tax issue. But let’s say that we were not able to have access to advisory services, support programs and so on, or they were not available at the time. I know there are very strong entrepreneurship programs now in Colombia. Colombia for some years now, with the last presidency and the previous one, has worked a lot on the subject of entrepreneurship. There are specific programs for youth entrepreneurship, there are specific programs for sector entrepreneurship, and today they are supporting both accompaniment and counseling as well as some economic programs for the creation of new companies. Regarding our sector Enrique, I can tell you that the trading cargo and the logistics sector in general has some restrictions or very important entry barriers through the Dian of Customs, which is the DIAN in Colombia, because today they require some policies to register the company to certify compliance with what we do in foreign trade and responsibilities, obviously illegal activities that we have as actors in international trade. So these policies are no longer so easy to obtain. So, for today’s entrepreneurs, it is a bit of a barrier to be able to generate. However, it will never be impossible. I believe that limitations will always be in our minds.

 

[00:15:19] Yes, totally. And well, Colombia has gone through several stages of growth as a country and as a society. And well, this part of the illicit activities that you mention, the logistics, I imagine was one of the main targets of many cartels and other illicit organizations. So I think you need to pay particular attention. This remains similar or has changed somewhat from the point of view of drug trafficking and organized crime in relation to logistics in particular.

 

[00:15:59] Yes. Well, I can tell you that it has been a latent risk that we, the actors of foreign trade in Colombia, have had. And well, unfortunately in other countries, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, there are other actors that have begun to enter very strongly into the whole issue of drug trafficking and illicit activities, money laundering and so on. However, it is a risk that we have latent and that we as a company work very hard on knowing our business partners from the first contact, the first email, the first request for quotation, in order to be able to verify who those partners are, who those employees are? Who are the activities they perform. So we do activities such as checking if the company is a furniture company, where they make the furniture, how they make it, what their track record is, etcetera. So we do have a very strong accompaniment with our customers and unfortunately on some occasions due to the level of risk represented by the operations that sometimes they ask us to quote, we have had to say as a company that we do not provide the service because we have to be responsible in that, both as a company, with our employees and also with our partners abroad, who are the ones to whom we ship their goods. So, yes, this is unfortunately a flaw in the sector due to these activities and the people who work in them. In these activities they are so perverse and so bad. But as a company we try to work, we try to provide ourselves with good associates and we always try to work towards clean and obviously lawful operations.

 

[00:17:43] Yes, of course. And well, it has a process, I imagine a very strict process to try to minimize any kind of problems in that regard. And I imagine that this has also been an important key to the success and growth of your company.

 

[00:17:58] Yes, that’s right, Enrique. We work very closely together. We worked seven years with bags, which is one. It is a certification, an association that exists, which promotes this safe culture in foreign trade and the company has been certified for seven years. At the moment we do not belong to the program because we are looking forward to working in the Huella program, which is about to be introduced in Colombia for freight forwarders and nothing. It provided us with a lot of organization, a lot of security culture, a lot of accompaniment culture with our associates and, as I said, a procedure is carried out prior to the operations of the company’s associates, of the activities, in order to minimize the risks involved in Colombia’s illicit activities.

 

[00:18:47] Also what you told me was called the first certification that Bugs vas had.

 

[00:18:53] Are you going?

 

[00:18:54] See that.

 

[00:18:56] See SS.

 

[00:18:58] Go SS to put it in the comments as well. I imagine it helped you. I think it could be important for people who are in this field to know about it, maybe explore it. And the AEO part as well, which is a very important new program for logistics companies like yours. Tell us going back again, then you take a few days, you think a little bit. The suppliers support you because of the record you had with them, the relationship you had of good service and you say well, go ahead, let’s go forward.

 

[00:19:37] Yes, Enrique. Yes, basically it was. The decision is made, the company is created. Well, that’s when the hard part really began. It was really. That’s where the hard part began. Then the company is created and you start finding. Getting customers is not easy. A new company is not easy. You find yourself with restrictions such as credits that companies like DHL, like logistics, like Yuri Nagel, like all these companies, have accustomed the market to credits to large capitals invested in their warehouses. Then you find all those restrictions that you start to realize that entering the market is not so easy. So what we decided to do is to take the flag to the service. Enrique, being aware that at a financial and infrastructure level we were not going to be able to compete because we were a company with practically zero capital and a company that was just entering the market, and we needed to generate a service flag in which we could begin to generate a different kind of customer service. So it is with this that we began to work with a formula for serving customers. 24 seven answer a call to a customer at the time the customer needs it and answer an email at the time the customer needs it.

 

[00:21:04] To begin to work in different shifts to be able to attend the time differences of different countries and to start telling the client that we are going to generate an accompaniment in their logistic operations, that we are going to generate an advisory, that we are going to get involved even in their purchase orders in order to be able to advise and support them and generate an added value in all their foreign trade operations. Enrique And with that, with that, with that formula we have been able to stay in the market during all this time, because obviously the rates of the big companies are often much more competitive than ours. What I tell you sometimes here in Colombia they say if you give me the freight I give you the customs and so they are, they are commercial policies that are difficult for us to compete, but good service. There are many customers who value it and we have many customers with us who are aware that good service comes at a price and are willing to pay us for what we do.

 

[00:22:05] Well, and it is an idea for its time, I imagine in the logistics industry in Colombia at that time, it was quite novel. I can imagine answering the phone 24 hours a day or starting to work different shifts. I imagine you were one of the only ones who did that. No?

 

[00:22:26] Yes, indeed, Enrique. What was happening at the time after 5:30 p.m., which is the normal end of business hours in Colombia? Nobody was answering the phone anymore, your email was left behind. So we did start to attract customers who had that need for service. Obviously there are customers who have the need for service, but you want it to be the same price as a DHL and that. And unfortunately, as I say, we know that sometimes we wish it was an Alice in Wonderland country, but it is not. Enrique, then you can’t. We have to take stock, not make a balance sheet, which is what is most useful to us and nothing. There are customers in this industry for all types, sizes and everything. The important thing is to be able to respond responsibly to what we can commit to.

 

[00:23:17] Totally agree. And well, that also again proves the success that cargo trading has had in the market. Tell us a little about the services Cargo Trading offers. Haven’t we officially made a, shall we say, presentation of what services they are? What industries do you focus on, what regions do you cover? And well, a little bit so that the people who are listening to us also have a little bit of context about what you are saying in the calls 24 hours a day, the e-mails, etcetera.

 

[00:23:48] Of course it is. Well, we have been in the service market for 16 years. At this moment we are able to offer all the services of a logistics operator. We have international transportation by air, sea and land, we have customs brokerage services for all customs matters, both import and export. We have warehousing services for some very specific products, we do not stock all kinds of products, but we do receive requests in order to find a solution. Logistics in warehousing. We have last mile delivery service, distribution in the main cities of Colombia. We have advisory and consulting services in very specific foreign trade issues, which we do through external advisors, but we provide service with a very, very effective and efficient accompaniment when our clients need it. We have service for international fairs when customers want to come to provide their services or sales products in international fairs organized by Colombia. We are able to bring your products, receive them, place them at the point of attention of the fair, the stand where they are going to be and if it is a return, we go back and do all the packaging, we pick them up from the stand, we do all the customs formalities for entry and exit and you can return to your countries. We do and provide all their services and in general we do everything related to logistics, international transport, goods. No.

 

[00:25:27] No, perfect and good, a fairly complete range of services, including the consulting part and last mile deliveries, which not everyone does and are difficult with their own characteristics. Each of them did not walk. If you tell us a little about the progression of the company, you started in Bogota, I imagine. That’s where they had the first few years and then gradually began to grow. Tell us a little more about Twitter.

 

[00:25:57] Of course it is. We obviously started in Bogota, in fact this was our main office here. At the moment we have operations in Medellín, Barranquilla, Cartagena and Buenaventura, and obviously in Bogotá we also have our own operations through the land border and with Ecuador in Ipiales. And nothing, because we already have Partners around the world, practically covering the whole world. And we have partners with whom we have reciprocal goods, which we have been working very well for many years. They have been companies with which we have been able to generate an environment of trust, especially in the Americas, from the United States to Argentina. But we also have operations with Asia and Europe. It’s not our forte at the moment, it’s America. From. From the north to the south. At the moment we are not very strong in Asia. And more than anything else, it intensified since the pandemic, because the freight, the high value of freight generated by the pandemic, basically made us think that it was not a very convenient niche for our company; it was too much capital to invest versus a minimum profit that the market was allowing us. So at the moment we are not doing a lot of work. The Asia issue, however, does not mean that we do not serve the market, we have the panels and we can do it. However, the conditions of amounts and credit quotas that the client may request are carefully reviewed.

 

[00:27:42] Of course, today I’m telling you a little bit about, getting a little bit ahead of now and again a little bit of the challenges that we have. You briefly mentioned the pandemic. Tell us a little more about the challenges you faced in Colombia, particularly your company during the pandemic. So, what challenges do you have now? What has really been something you’ve seen in the market? I am moving a little bit into the future and your perspective of logistics in Latin America and in particular in Colombia, into the future.

 

[00:28:16] Of course, Enrique. Well, the pandemic is unquestionably something that not only affects Colombia but the whole world. I think it catches her a little off guard. It is something we were surely not prepared for and so quick to generate such a rapid change in the world and Colombia was no exception. Initially, we are confined to the entire country, which means that operations are practically reduced. We, however, were a sector in which the government, by decree, allowed us to continue operating because logistics could not stop. It was leaving homes without food, it was leaving homes without services. There were basic necessities that had to work. So logistics was that sector. This allowed us to continue operating in some way, but we were at the crossroads between continuing to operate on the one hand, but health and human lives on the other. So what is done is obviously to generate a work at home issue, where we can continue to operate in the company, but from the comfort and safety of each of the homes, of the people who worked and somehow also generate in the customers the reliability that we would be able to continue serving their operations, because we had companies in food industries that needed to keep moving their things, moving their supply chain and generating the production of their products to reach their homes.

 

[00:29:53] So it was a job in which it was not so easy because some companies did slow down getting drivers. It was no longer so easy to get someone to look out for charges. So yes, it was a few months of great uncertainty and where operations may not have been flowing at the same speed as before the pandemic. However, it was quickly resolved and we were able to continue operating with our customers. We were able to support all our customers from whom we had merchandise commitments and well, that drives us forward. At this time we also passed. Enrique, I would like to comment on the radar that after the pandemic, about a year ago, we went through a very strong civil strike, it was a situation that we had not come out of the pandemic and these civil protests practically paralyzed the country.

 

[00:30:49] So this was, this was when I walk, at what time? Because that goes in.

 

[00:30:54] Parallel to what happened in Syria between the months of February, it began and ended in June of last year.

 

[00:31:03] Social outburst similar to what happened in Chile, somewhat as a result of the same thing.

 

[00:31:08] Right? Very, very, very similar. Moreover, I believe that many of the young people and the people who were involved in the protest took the model as a Chilean chip to replicate it in what was happening. I am talking about the country being paralyzed. Important connections from the interior to the ports, main roads and major cities were practically closed. People could not leave their homes because of the violence and insecurity that we are experiencing these days. So, added to the pandemic, it was really two or three very, very difficult months in which the logistics had a major challenge and that is how we continue to operate in the midst of that difficulty. To give you an overview. We even had to surf small planes to try to move some urgent goods because they were stuck in some intermediate cities. With all these stoppages and blockades, we had to generate new strategies to be able to continue to meet our customers’ needs. And since it has been our flag from the beginning, we have been able to move forward and continue to fulfill our commitments to our customers in the midst of so many difficulties. Enrique.

 

[00:32:24] Camilo, based on your opinion and your experience, what would be the three main causes of your culture, of your success, of the company? I see, and from the examples you have given, that not only do they have the creativity, the innovation, the service flag, but they have quickly adjusted to market conditions. As a leader and as an entrepreneur, what do you think are the three characteristics that make a good company like yours?

 

[00:32:59] Well Enrique, first I think that we are a company that adapts very easily to change and that has allowed us not only to the general changes of the country and globally, but also to the changes sometimes of the clients themselves. Customers sometimes have changes that change the way we work with them, they change the logistics and we are a company that works to adapt very quickly. So I think that has been an important pillar. Indisputably. Enrique. Power to give. Good. Good responsibility. The word is what we commit to. That the client has the confidence and trust that when the company tells them that it will work for something of their needs, they will find a solution to support their operations. I think that has been unquestionably very important for the relationship we have with all our customers and our suppliers, obviously. And the last thing, Enrique, is that I think we have been a very, very, very responsible company in the management of finances. We are a company that no supplier during all these 16 years can say that we have been bad with any of our commitments throughout all this time, and that has made a very, very nice atmosphere of trust, both with suppliers and with customers.

 

[00:34:22] Hey, well, obviously those who are listening to us. Adapting to change. Trust. That the word is worth a lot. And good to have responsibility in the management of finances. This is somewhat the key to the success of Camilo or his team and position. Trading is in Colombia. Camilo Going back to today, how do you see the economic situation? How do you see the outlook? What kind of variables or indicators do you and your team track and consider on a day-to-day basis?

 

[00:35:01] Of course, Enrique. At this moment there are some economic variables that unquestionably impact us as a company and as a sector, and at this moment we are seeing a very high volatility with the dollar exchange rate. We have a very high inflation in Colombia, we have not had this kind of inflation for 22 years, but we know that it is also a global phenomenon in which Colombia cannot be a stranger. And this, and these are some of the variables that unquestionably impact all sectors and have an impact on the amount of logistic movements that countries have, generating some economic backwardness. But the country, after the pandemic, has reacted very well. Many sectors have adapted to the new reality of the world and of services and products, and the economy has been performing well despite the problems we have discussed in the past. We, as a sector and as a company, are also facing the deficiency of being able to generate or have a qualified labor force willing to work very well for our clients and for the company. Unfortunately, we are faced with the fact that the new generation is not so willing to be responsible, to adjust to different schedules, to know that if you have to work five minutes more, it may be because of the responsibility of a very large operation of a client and all these types of things that the new generation is perhaps a little reluctant to enroll. This has created a great difficulty and a great challenge for us to solve. However, we are working hand in hand to try to understand this new generation, to find out how we can motivate this new generation and try to generate some aspects of benefits in addition to the legal salaries in order to engage this new generation so that we can continue to provide a good service to our customers.

 

[00:37:16] And you told me we didn’t talk.

 

[00:37:17] Like Enrique, I believe that one of the problems we are having at this very complicated moment is the competition we are facing from the same shipping service providers. I do not know how it is working, but in other nearby countries, but for some months now in Colombia, the shipping lines have decided to stop serving us as freight forwarders and logistics operators and start serving directly to direct customers. This makes it a bit of unfair competition. I have discussed this with some colleagues in the sector, because in the end they are the owners of the means of transport, but at the same time they refuse to provide the service to us in order to provide it to our customers. So I feel like in some forced way they are trying to take us off the radar and the market is another problem.

 

[00:38:16] That is a major issue that I think would merit its own, its own panel or interview. We have experienced it in the same way in many other countries. I speak, for example, by saying that I am no longer going to ship. What other shipping companies have done? Have you taken this strategy in Colombia and how are you doing? How are you handling it with your team and with other shipping lines?

 

[00:38:41] It is currently being done by Hamburg South, but it should be remembered that in both turn Mercy Land does not buy then practically Hamburg Summer Land has. And we have also noticed that both Japan Japan Ley and Mediterranean Shipping are doing the same. So, if you look at the shipping lines I mention, we are surely talking about more than 60% of the world’s shipping offer. So yes, it can generate a problem and as you say, surely it is a topic that can have both length and width and surely will enable an exclusive panel to that topic.

 

[00:39:22] That’s one. It’s a yes, it’s a problem, it’s a strategy that is definitely going to cause a lot of changes in our industry and we will have to understand them in more detail. You are absolutely right Camilo, we could talk for hours and hours. It has been an excellent talk, but well, we are already closing our interview. Is there anything in particular you’d like to share with our audience that we might not touch on?

 

[00:39:51] No Enrique, first of all I would like to say to all the audience that to move forward, to undertake, to be, to be good at what we do, if it is only possible, it is definitely necessary to do our part and that it is good to contribute our grain of sand to move forward, to do things well, not only in the entrepreneurship of business owners, but also when they are employees, when they are collaborators of companies of someone who wanted to undertake and do things well in those companies, it also implies that they are doing their bit for the progress and growth of their companies as well as their countries.

 

[00:40:32] I totally agree. And well Camilo, how do the people who listen to us and would like to contact you as a trading position, what is the best way to contact them? What is the best way to contact you?

 

[00:40:46] Nothing. Well we have our email that is always checked even though it is a website contact email which is info at cargo trading dot net is an email in which you can write us all the people who want to contact us for the different things in which we can bring you this our website triple double u dot four trading to put and we are on facebook as cargo trading and on Instagram as cargo trading stuck.

 

[00:41:14] Perfect, Camilo. My pleasure. You know, if you want to contact Trading or Camilo, you already have the contacts there. And well, nice chatting with you as always. Once again, a very creative, cutting-edge company, doing things right in logistics. I am proud to know you, it is a pleasure to work with you and well, keep going. I believe that based on your culture and leadership you have set an example to many other logistics companies in Latin America, so again a pleasure to have you here. Thank you very much for taking the time and to others and to the audience if you like this kind of talks, if you find these topics interesting, do not fail to subscribe again. My name is Enrique Alvarez and this was Supply Chain in Spanish. See you next time.

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Camilo Pita tiene 37 años y se graduó de bachillerato a los 17 años en el 2001. En el 2016 decide emprender y crear la empresa Cargo Trading International de Columbia SAS y en el 2010 se gradúa como economista profesional. Tiene énfasis en comercio exterior y ha participado en diferentes cursos y seminarios entre otras cosas en Colombia y otros países de Latinoamérica. Camilo cuenta con formación en sistemas de gestión y auditoría interna de seguridad en el estándar BASC capítulo Bogotá. Actualmente es gerente de Cargo Trading, con 20 años de experiencia en el sector de la logística de carga internacional y dirige Cargo Trading desde hace 16 años.

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Enrique Alvarez

Host, Logistics with Purpose

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Host of Dial P for Procurement

Billy Taylor is a Proven Business Excellence Practitioner and Leadership Guru with over 25 years leading operations for a Fortune 500 company, Goodyear. He is also the CEO of LinkedXL (Excellence), a Business Operating Systems Architecting Firm dedicated to implementing sustainable operating systems that drive sustainable results. Taylor’s achievements in the industry have made him a Next Generational Lean pacesetter with significant contributions.

An American business executive, Taylor has made a name for himself as an innovative and energetic industry professional with an indispensable passion for his craft of operational excellence. His journey started many years ago and has worked with renowned corporations such as The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT) leading multi-site operations. With over 3 decades of service leading North America operations, he is experienced in a deeply rooted process driven approach in customer service, process integrity for sustainability.

A disciple of continuous improvement, Taylor’s love for people inspires commitment to helping others achieve their full potential. He is a dynamic speaker and hosts "The Winning Link," a popular podcast centered on business and leadership excellence with the #1 rated Supply Chain Now Network. As a leadership guru, Taylor has earned several invitations to universities, international conferences, global publications, and the U.S. Army to demonstrate how to achieve and sustain effective results through cultural acceptance and employee ownership. Leveraging the wisdom of his business acumen, strong influence as a speaker and podcaster Taylor is set to release "The Winning Link" book under McGraw Hill publishing in 2022. The book is a how-to manual to help readers understand the management of business interactions while teaching them how to Deine, Align, and Execute Winning in Business.

A servant leader, Taylor, was named by The National Diversity Council as one of the Top 100 Diversity Officers in the country in 2021. He features among Oklahoma's Most Admired CEOs and maintains key leadership roles with the Executive Advisory Board for The Shingo Institute "The Nobel Prize of Operations" and The Association of Manufacturing Excellence (AME); two world-leading organizations for operational excellence, business development, and cultural learning.  He is also an Independent Director for the M-D Building Products Board, a proud American manufacturer of quality products since 1920.

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Tandreia Bellamy

Host, Supply Chain Now

Tandreia Bellamy retired as the Vice President of Industrial Engineering for UPS Supply Chain Solutions which included the Global Logistics, Global Freight Forwarding and UPS Freight business units. She was responsible for operations strategy and planning, asset management, forecasting, and technology tool development to optimize sustainable efficiency while driving world class service.

Tandreia held similar positions at the business unit level for Global Logistics and Global Freight forwarding. As the leader of the Global Logistics engineering function, she directed all industrial engineering activies related to distribution, service parts logistics (post-sales support), and mail innovations (low cost, light weight shipping partnership with the USPS). Between these roles Tandreia helped to establish the Advanced Technology Group which was formed to research and develop cutting edge solutions focused on reducing reliance on manual labor.

Tandreia began her career in 1986 as a part-time hourly manual package handling employee. She spent the great majority of her career in the small package business unit which is responsible for the pick-up, sort, transport and delivery of packages domestically. She held various positions in Industrial Engineering, Marketing, Inside and On-road operations in Central Florida before transferring to Atlanta for a position in Corporate Product Development and Corporate Industrial Engineering. Tandreia later held IE leadership roles in Nebraska, Minnesota and Chicago. In her final role in small package she was an IE VP responsible for all aspects of IE, technology support and quality for the 25 states on the western half of the country.
Tandreia is currently a Director for the University of Central Florida (UCF) Foundation Board and also serves on their Dean’s Advisory Board for the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Previously Tandreia served on the Executive Advisory Board for Virginia Tech’s IE Department and the Association for Supply Chain Management. She served on the Board of Trustees for ChildServ (a Chicago child and family services non-profit) and also served on the Texas A&M and Tuskegee Engineering Advisory Boards. In 2006 she was named Business Advisor of the Year by INROADS, in 2009 she was recognized as a Technology All-Star at the Women of Color in STEM conference and in 2019 she honored as a UCF Distinguished Aluma by the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems.

Tandreia holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University and a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Management Systems from UCF. Her greatest accomplishment, however, is being the proud mother of two college students, Ruby (24) and Anthony (22).

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Mary Kate Soliva

Host, Veteran Voices

Mary Kate Soliva is a veteran of the US Army and cofounder of the Guam Human Rights Initiative. She is currently in the Doctor of Criminal Justice program at Saint Leo University. She is passionate about combating human trafficking and has spent the last decade conducting training for military personnel and the local community.

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Scott W. Luton

Founder, CEO, & Host

As the founder and CEO of Supply Chain Now, you might say Scott is the voice of supply chain – but he’s too much of a team player to ever claim such a title. One thing’s for sure: he’s a tried and true supply chain expert. With over 15 years of experience in the end-to-end supply chain, Scott’s insights have appeared in major publications including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and CNN. He has also been named a top industry influencer by Thinkers360, ISCEA and more.

From 2009-2011, Scott was president of APICS Atlanta, and he continues to lead initiatives that support both the local business community and global industry. A United States Air Force Veteran, Scott has also regularly led efforts to give back to his fellow veteran community since his departure from active duty in 2002.

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Greg White

Principal & CMO, Supply Chain Now
Host of Supply Chain Now and TECHquila Sunrise

When rapid-growth technology companies, venture capital and private equity firms are looking for advisory, they call Greg – a founder, board director, advisor and catalyst of disruptive B2B technology and supply chain. An insightful visionary, Greg guides founders, investors and leadership teams in creating breakthroughs to gain market exposure and momentum – increasing overall company esteem and valuation.

Greg is a founder himself, creating Blue Ridge Solutions, a Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader in cloud-native supply chain applications, and bringing to market Curo, a field service management solution. He has also held leadership roles with Servigistics (PTC) and E3 Corporation (JDA/Blue Yonder). As a principal and host at Supply Chain Now, Greg helps guide the company’s strategic direction, hosts industry leader discussions, community livestreams, and all in addition to executive producing and hosting his original YouTube channel and podcast, TEChquila Sunrise.

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Chris Barnes

Principal, Supply Chain Now
Host of Supply Chain is Boring

Talk about world-class: Chris is one of the few professionals in the world to hold CPIM-F, CLTD-F and CSCP-F designations from ASCM/APICS. He’s also the APICS coach – and our resident Supply Chain Doctor. When he’s not hosting programs with Supply Chain Now, he’s sharing supply chain knowledge on the APICS Coach Youtube channel or serving as a professional education instructor for the Georgia Tech Supply Chain & Logistic Institute’s Supply Chain Management (SCM) program and University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Center for Professional Education courses.

Chris earned a BS in Industrial Engineering from Bradley University, an MBA with emphasis in Industrial Psychology from the University of West Florida, and is a Doctoral in Supply Chain Management candidate.

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Tyler Ward

Director of Sales

Tyler Ward serves as Supply Chain Now's Director of Sales. Born and raised in Mid-Atlantic, Tyler is a proud graduate of Shippensburg University where he earned his degree in Communications. After college, he made his way to the beautiful state of Oregon, where he now lives with his wife and daughter.

With over a decade of experience in sales, Tyler has a proven track record of exceeding targets and leading high-performing teams. He credits his success to his ability to communicate effectively with customers and team members alike, as well as his strategic thinking and problem-solving skills.

When he's not closing deals, you can find Tyler on the links or cheering on his favorite football and basketball teams. He also enjoys spending time with his family, playing pick-up basketball, and traveling back to Ocean City, Maryland, his favorite place!

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Kevin L. Jackson

Host of Digital Transformers

Kevin L. Jackson is a globally recognized Thought Leader, Industry Influencer and Founder/Author of the award winning “Cloud Musings” blog.  He has also been recognized as a “Top 5G Influencer” (Onalytica 2019, Radar 2020), a “Top 50 Global Digital Transformation Thought Leader” (Thinkers 360 2019) and provides strategic consulting and integrated social media services to AT&T, Intel, Broadcom, Ericsson and other leading companies. Mr. Jackson’s commercial experience includes Vice President J.P. Morgan Chase, Worldwide Sales Executive for IBM and SAIC (Engility) Director Cloud Solutions. He has served on teams that have supported digital transformation projects for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the US Intelligence Community.  Kevin’s formal education includes a MS Computer Engineering from Naval Postgraduate School; MA National Security & Strategic Studies from Naval War College; and a BS Aerospace Engineering from the United States Naval Academy. Internationally recognizable firms that have sponsored articles authored by him include CiscoMicrosoft, Citrix and IBM.  Books include “Click to Transform” (Leaders Press, 2020), “Architecting Cloud Computing Solutions” (Packt, 2018), and “Practical Cloud Security: A Cross Industry View” (Taylor & Francis, 2016). He also delivers online training through Tulane UniversityO’Reilly MediaLinkedIn Learning, and Pluralsight.  Mr. Jackson retired from the U.S. Navy in 1994, earning specialties in Space Systems EngineeringCarrier Onboard Delivery Logistics and carrier-based Airborne Early Warning and Control. While active, he also served with the National Reconnaissance Office, Operational Support Office, providing tactical support to Navy and Marine Corps forces worldwide.

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Enrique Alvarez

Host of Logistics with Purpose and Supply Chain Now en Español

Enrique serves as Managing Director at Vector Global Logistics and believes we all have a personal responsibility to change the world. He is hard working, relationship minded and pro-active. Enrique trusts that the key to logistics is having a good and responsible team that truly partners with the clients and does whatever is necessary to see them succeed. He is a proud sponsor of Vector’s unique results-based work environment and before venturing into logistics he worked for the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). During his time at BCG, he worked in different industries such as Telecommunications, Energy, Industrial Goods, Building Materials, and Private Banking. His main focus was always on the operations, sales, and supply chain processes, with case focus on, logistics, growth strategy, and cost reduction. Prior to joining BCG, Enrique worked for Grupo Vitro, a Mexican glass manufacturer, for five years holding different positions from sales and logistics manager to supply chain project leader in charge of five warehouses in Colombia.

He has an MBA from The Wharton School of Business and a BS, in Mechanical Engineer from the Technologico de Monterrey in Mexico. Enrique’s passions are soccer and the ocean, and he also enjoys traveling, getting to know new people, and spending time with his wife and two kids, Emma and Enrique.

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Kelly Barner

Host of Dial P for Procurement

Kelly is the Owner and Managing Director of Buyers Meeting Point and MyPurchasingCenter. She has been in procurement since 2003, starting as a practitioner and then as the Associate Director of Consulting at Emptoris. She has covered procurement news, events, publications, solutions, trends, and relevant economics at Buyers Meeting Point since 2009. Kelly is also the General Manager at Art of Procurement and Business Survey Chair for the ISM-New York Report on Business. Kelly has her MBA from Babson College as well as an MS in Library and Information Science from Simmons College and she has co-authored three books: ‘Supply Market Intelligence for Procurement Professionals’, ‘Procurement at a Crossroads’, and ‘Finance Unleashed’.

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Constantine Limberakis

Host

Constantine Limberakis is a thought leader in the area of procurement and supply management. He has over 20 years of international experience, playing strategic roles in a wide spectrum of organizations related to analyst advisory, consulting, product marketing, product development, and market research.Throughout his career, he's been passionate about engaging global business leaders and the broader analyst and technology community with strategic content, speaking engagements, podcasts, research, webinars, and industry articles.Constantine holds a BA in History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an MBA in Finance & Marketing / Masters in Public & International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh.

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Amanda Luton

Vice President, Production

Amanda is a production and marketing veteran and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience across a variety of industries and organizations including Von Maur, Anthropologie, AmericasMart Atlanta, and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Amanda currently manages, produces, and develops modern digital content for Supply Chain Now and their clients. Amanda has previously served as the VP of Information Systems and Webmaster on the Board of Directors for APICS Savannah, and founded and managed her own successful digital marketing firm, Magnolia Marketing Group. When she’s not leading the Supply Chain Now production team, you can find Amanda in the kitchen, reading, listening to podcasts, or enjoying time with family.

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Clay Phillips

Business Development Manager

Clay is passionate about two things: supply chain and the marketing that goes into it. Recently graduated with a degree in marketing at the University of Georgia, Clay got his start as a journalism major and inaugural member of the Owl’s football team at Kennesaw State University – but quickly saw tremendous opportunity in the Terry College of Business. He’s already putting his education to great use at Supply Chain Now, assisting with everything from sales and brand strategy to media production. Clay has contributed to initiatives such as our leap into video production, the guest blog series, and boosting social media presence, and after nearly two years in Supply Chain Now’s Marketing Department, Clay now heads up partnership and sales initiatives with the help of the rest of the Supply Chain Now sales team.

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Trisha Cordes

Administrative Assistant

Trisha is new to the supply chain industry – but not to podcasting. She’s an experienced podcast manager and virtual assistant who also happens to have 20 years of experience as an elementary school teacher. It’s safe to say, she’s passionate about helping people, and she lives out that passion every day with the Supply Chain Now team, contributing to scheduling and podcast production.

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Chantel King

Social Media Manager

My name is Chantel King and I am the Social Media Specialist at Supply Chain Now. My job is to make sure our audience is engaged and educated on the abundant amount of information the supply chain industry has to offer.

Social Media and Communications has been my niche ever since I graduated from college at The Academy of Art University in San Francisco. No, I am not a West Coast girl. I was born and raised in New Jersey, but my travel experience goes way beyond the garden state. My true passion is in creating editorial and graphic content that influences others to be great in whatever industry they are in. I’ve done this by working with lifestyle, financial, and editorial companies by providing resources to enhance their businesses.

Another passion of mine is trying new things. Whether it’s food, an activity, or a sport. I would like to say that I am an adventurous Taurus that never shies away from a new quest or challenge.

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Lori Sofian

Marketing Coordinator

Lori is currently completing a degree in marketing with an emphasis in digital marketing at the University of Georgia. When she’s not supporting the marketing efforts at Supply Chain Now, you can find her at music festivals – or working toward her dream goal of a fashion career. Lori is involved in many extracurricular activities and appreciates all the learning experiences UGA has brought her.

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Katherine Hintz

Sales and Marketing Coordinator

Katherine is a marketing professional and MBA candidate who strives to unite her love of people with a passion for positive experiences. Having a diverse background, which includes nonprofit work with digital marketing and start-ups, she serves as a leader who helps people live their most creative lives by cultivating community, order, collaboration, and respect. With equal parts creativity and analytics, she brings a unique skill set which fosters refining, problem solving, and connecting organizations with their true vision. In her free time, you can usually find her looking for her cup of coffee, playing with her puppy Charlie, and dreaming of her next road trip.

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