Objective
Director level executive with ample experience in the areas of logistics, planning and finance, in multicultural and transnational working environments. Proven capacity of leadership, analysis and creativity, with major interest to develop an organization and maximize its potential. I have a Ph. D. in Transportation Engineering and M. B. A. studies in Finance.
Experience
Equipment and Logistics Director, Global Transaction Center, Chiquita Brands.
Santa Ana, Costa Rica. 2005-date
Manage the Chiquita global intermodal equipment fleet, including short and long term equipment strategic planning, definition and deployment of optimal fleet sizing, fleet utilization and cost, equipment Maintenance and Repair (M&R), as well as the sourcing and finance of the equipment. Manage the logistics operations of Honduras and Nicaragua, including the port operations, the container terminals, the traffic and transportation operations, the fruit desk, and the commercial and proprietary cargo logistics operations. Plan the logistical requirements for Africa and other no traditional sources of fruit.
• Managed a combine Budget of over $90 MM per year and a total labor force of over 800 people.
• Achieved annual savings between 6% and 14%, reducing at the same time the equipment late arrivals by more than 80% and the cost of quality caused by equipment by more than 70%.
• Developed and obtained approval for a 10 year equipment replacement strategic plan, which has allowed already an investment of $260MM to replace more than 75% of the fleet.
• Lead the team which secured equipment finance from different financial institutions for more than $110MM.
• Achieved energy savings (outsider my budget) of more than $8MM per year.
• Designed logistical solutions for fruit purchase for three countries in Africa.
JDEdwards Distribution Implementation Director, Chiquita Brands.
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, and Santa Ana, Costa Rica. 2003-2005
Lead the JDEdwards Distribution Implementation Team in North and Latin America, for the business cycles of Procure to Pay and Order to Cash. Implemented the modules of procurement, sales, inventory management, inventory planning (MRP, DRP, ROP), work orders, and fruit procurement.
• Lead a 100% successful implementation, where the scope, schedule and budget were effectively meet in North and Latin America.
• Lead the inventory master clean up, achieving a reduction from 76,000 to less than 5,000 stock items.
Tropical Quality Director,
Senior Manager World Wide Quality, Chiquita Fresh.
Santa Ana, Costa Rica. 2000-2003
Provide strategic direction for all quality production and logistics units in the Latin America Fresh Divisions, defining, implementing and auditing the required policies and procedures to guarantee fruit consistency and customer satisfaction. Lead the Chiquita Fresh world wide Quality Management System Project, which included the design and implementation of a new Chiquita World wide quality management system in the areas of production, supply chain, and markets.
• Lead the development and implementation of all the quality management systems in Latin America, achieving more than a 40% improvement in the product market quality, and at the same time, achieving a waste reduction of 30%.
• Lead the definition of all the fresh fruit specifications for the company, both for packing as well as for the market.
• Defined and implemented the required organization, processes, and quality control to guarantee and manage the word wide product quality.
Senior Manager Tropical Logistics Standardization and Planning, Chiquita Brands
Manager Honduras Port Operations, Tela Railroad Company
Santa Ana, Costa Rica, and Puerto Cortes, Honduras. 1998-2000
Define and systematize standard processes and best operational and financial practices for the different logistics operation of Chiquita in Latin America, including inland transportation, logistical network optimization, port operations, terminal management, and equipment maintenance and repair. Develop and implement master plans for the different logistical operation, including the required infrastructure, equipment, and personnel, as well as assessing the training and logistics information systems needs. Restructure all the logistics operations in Honduras.
• Lead the process reengineering and the successful implementation of new processes in the five largest logistics operations in Latin America.
• Developed strategic plans for four operations.
• Restructured all the Honduras logistics operations in a period of nine months changing the organization, the managerial operational and financial processes, transforming the operation from the worst to the best terminal in the region.
• Improved the port operations productivity by 56% and the container yard efficiency by 26%.
Senior Manager Distribution & Inventory Planning,
Manager Logistics Planning, Chiquita Brands North America. (CFNA)
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. 1994-1998
Manage the fruit distribution and the market inventory for CBNA. Ensure that the inventory requirements were coordinated with transportation capacities, stowage, vessel arrivals, and market demands. Manage the vessel scheduling and stowage as well as the associated container fleet for all North American services. Manage the fruit age and assignment of the right fruit for the right customer. Develop logistics long term plans for CBNA, define vessel rotations, discharge ports and required distribution centers, and other logistics infrastructure. Perform process re-engineering and plan and implement logistics oriented management information systems for CBNA.
• Developed a centralized tool to manage the current and future fruit inventories, replacing seven existing tools. The tool is still used to manage the fruit inventory in NA today.
• Reduced 50% the out of stocks of fruit and at the same time reduced 30% the size of the safety stock.
• Honored with the outstanding performance award for my participation in the Logistics Process Design Team.
• Developed a new vessel rotation that allowed with the same vessels to service one more discharge port, and at the same time, to interconnect all the loading ports with the discharge ports allowing doubling the revenue of commercial cargo.
Container Equipment Manager,
Senior Operations Analyst,
Operations Analyst, Dole Fresh Fruit International. (DFFI)
San José, Costa Rica. 1991-1994
Administrate the container equipment fleet. Plan and control all the operation’s department capital investments. Logistics planning and control of all the different DFFI marine operations. Design and implement the different information systems required of the operations department. Develop a commercial cargo strategy. Perform re-engineering and financial analysis.
Professor Civil Engineering Department, Universidad de Costa Rica.
San Pedro, Costa Rica. 1982, 1988-1995
Develop and lecture five different courses and direct eighteen graduation projects in the area of transportation engineering. Founding member of the Engineering Graduate Board.
Area Consulting Manager, Deloitte Ross Tohmatsu.
San Pedro, Costa Rica. 1988-1991
Lead the sales, planning and management of all the consulting projects en the areas of human resources, information systems, service management, engineering and economics.
Research Assistant, Institute of Transportation Studies.
Berkeley, California. 1982-1987
To research and improve the state of the art in three main projects: California freight network; Costa Rica freight transportation corridor study; and, optimization of actuated signalized traffic Networks for different cities in California.
Civil Engineer, Bridge Department, Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes.
San José, Costa Rica. 1980-1982
Design different structural elements for Bridges and culverts.
Education
Ph. D. Transportation Engineering with minors in Economics and Statistics.
University of California, Berkeley, USA.
1987
M. Eng. Transportation Engineering with minors in Economics and Statistics.
University of California, Berkeley, USA. 1984
M. B. A. with emphasis in Finance. (incomplete)
Universidad Interamericana de Costa Rica, San Pedro, Costa Rica. (needs to complete a seminar for graduation) 1994
Licentiate Civil Engineering, major in Structural and Earthquake Engineering.
Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, Costa Rica. 1981
Certification
One World ERP 8.0 JDEdwards
ISO 9001:2000 Management System Training
Internal Auditor for Quality Management System
Decker Method: Effective Communicating
Performance Measure for Strategic Planning
Hay Method for Job Evaluation
Six Sigma Green Belt Training
Skils
Port Terminal Design