Westfalia Fruit

Ignacio Espinoza Valdivia

Innovative Logistics Solutions in the Wine Industry

In what is today Gori-Hillibrandt, which is a DHL Company, we developed several international logistics solutions for the wine industry. For example, in 2002 we set up a “wine consolidation center”, for Chilean and Argentinean wines, in the port of San Antonio. We brought from our operations in Italy, the latest technologies available in the wine industry. A WMS with barcode reading for products and a Track and Tracing System for shipments. At that time, it was something completely new in the Chilean and Argentinean wine industry.

Then in 2015 I joined SAAM, when the company decided to turn the Logistics Division into a Logistics Operator. One of the solutions we developed for the retail industry was to revive the railway service from San Antonio and offer a full logistics service for their import containers from port to distribution center, passing by our intermodal terminal in Renca, Santiago.

Strategic Supply Chain Management: Empowering Business Continuity

Finally, in 2019 I became the Operations Manager of Westfalia Chile, a top five fresh fruit exporter in this country, with the clear objective of positioning Supply Chain Management as a strategic area that crosses the whole value chain, giving the best solutions for business continuity and competitiveness. In 2020, I transitioned from Operations to Supply Chain Manager and we empowered the area within the organization.

Supply Chain Management, which includes logistics, must be seen as a fundamental part of the business, not merely as a service provider for core business areas. It must work hand in hand with those areas at strategic, tactical, and operational levels, with equal influence within the decision-making process. If you do not satisfy customers’ requirements, they’ll go somewhere else, and without customers, there is no business. So, it is crucial to design supply chain solutions that serve customers with competitive costs, service, and quality. A well-designed supply chain solution adds value to customers and vice versa.

The main trend is undoubtedly the digitalization of the supply chain, which, for example, gives us full end-to-end visibility in real-time. The other important trend came after the pandemic, where it became clear the strategic importance of supply chain management.

Our business needs supply chains that add value to customers and to the company across our global operations in a win-win game. These supply chains must be constantly measured, controlled and improved.

World-class supply chains need world-class service providers. Logistics operators and carriers must be carefully selected according to three main drivers: cost, service, and quality. Then, you turn them into strategic suppliers in a win-win game as well as you do with your customers. In that way, you will build a robust supply chain.

Nowadays, the only way a business can succeed is by being competitive, so build competitive supply chains.