Continuing with our cycle of posts “Getting to Know Aceitunas Torrent”, which we already started by focusing on our Commercial department, this time we shine the spotlight on the Logistics department.
Our Head of Logistics is Beatriz Pérez, who has worked in the department for over 11 years.
How does the logistics department work?
Their mornings fly past in a frenzy of emails, phone calls, and the coming and going of carriers and couriers.
One of the department’s key tasks, according to Bea, is to negotiate freight prices and coordinate with freight forwarders about the availability of carriers to load their cargos at our facilities each day.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the prices and availability of freight companies are in a constant state of flux, so negotiating both is now a far more arduous task than ever before.
The coordination between our factory and the commercial department needs to run like clockwork: the logistics department needs to know when the factory is finishing an order for a client, to start organizing the freight and hiring the carriers, while all the time keeping the sales staff up-to-date about what’s going on.
Good planning and tight control are essential for at least two weeks in advance so none of the orders are affected.
What’s more, it’s up to the logistics department to get all the documentation ready each day not only for the clients, but also for the customs controls, which vary depending on which country our products are sent to.
Bea has worked with us for over 11 years now and in this time, she’s had her fair share of anecdotes to tell. The latest of these happened a few weeks ago when the Suez Canal and the port of Yantian were blocked to sea traffic.
The resulting jam in the canal led to delays in orders and in the availability of freight containers in which to load the merchandise.
One of the most bustling Chinese ports, Yantian, suffered a COVID-19 outbreak, and so it was closed to container traffic for a few days. It took a few days to reopen, which meant the trade routes were blocked, causing the price of freight used to transport the goods to skyrocket.
This led to a sudden rise in shipping costs, which have not yet returned to normal.
Communication with all the other departments
As a provider of services and solutions, the department keeps in close contact with the rest of the company, and its work is based on mutual trust and constant communication, making the most of the synergies which drive the efficiency, motivation and productivity in our company.