DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - Transport
Caribbean Region Manager, Yobel
Bio
Angel Terrero is an Industrial Engineer holding a Master’s degree in Operations Administration with 15 years of experience in the supply and logistics sector. He is a Supply Chain Professional certified by APICS, and Lean Six Sigma certified.
The sector is undergoing a major transformation toward becoming a regional hub, especially now that the Panama Canal is undergoing renovation works. The Caucedo Maritime Port is a part of the infrastructure driving this transformation. Overall, this is a hugely positive transformation for sector and country alike, which will clearly increase the volume of cargo transported. A concerted effort is needed now to transform the Dominican Republic into a more industrialized nation, rather than a pit stop for cargo before reaching its final destination. Certain challenges remain however, and we need a more open trade union at ports to avoid the monopolization of businesses, and must accelerate road infrastructure construction. Additionally, new industrial parks are required to increase our industrial offering.
The Dominican Republic is only around 48,500 square kilometers in size, which enables us to reach the main industrial points, regardless of location, within two or three hours. Therefore, we do not require new distribution centers beyond Santo Domingo, but can do for special projects where required. Yobel achieves high efficiency levels, thanks to its work model and organizational structure. Our main competitive advantages are time efficiency, competitive prices and focus on high quality standards and customer service.
We currently have clients that purchase goods abroad and leverage our synergies as a multinational to get their goods delivered. In terms of the advantages of being part of a multinational, the support of considerable experience in supply chain management of over 40 years and a presence in 13 countries; this combined with the permanent optimization of its industrial and logistics capabilities, has enabled Yobel SCM to build a proposal to help companies identify and implement operational improvements with high added value.
The main attributes of the Yobel SCM’s value proposal are know-how and technology transfer, common goods distribution and storage practices, lower costs for our clients, a capable and skilled workforce, international certified processes and employees, and above all the professionalism and confidence of our daily drive towards continuous improvement. We operate directly through our branch network to ensure efficient service.
The Dominican workforce is hardworking and capable; however, improvement is required in terms of education. Regarding management positions, the workforce is highly skilled and qualified, thanks to several well-established free trade zones in operation, which, in fact, have helped develop knowledge and skills through know-how transfer. Over the past few years, we have also observed a rise in the number of Dominican professionals pursuing studies abroad.
We have a wide range of clients, and our strategy is to work on market segmentation for the next few years. We identify the needs of industry and client, and based on that, offer the services required, delivering added value. We have clients from sectors including cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, IT, mass-consumption products, construction, mining, and the food industry.
We have an aggressive and ambitious plan for 2014; we expect to grow at the same level as in previous years—by between 12% and 15%, annually. To this end, we are implementing new technologies and our clients are already benefiting. We will continue working toward the international certification of our workforce, and plan to commence operations elsewhere within the country to expand our customer portfolio. We expect to continue growing in terms of capacity as well as volume.
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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - Industry
Interview
Country Manager, Unilever República Dominicana