One of the key areas of our company, that makes our relationships happen and that makes it possible for your coffee to reach its destination, is the logistics department!
We had a chat with Gladis Melara, the Traffic Chief at Dinamica, who has been in the team for more than 10 years supporting the logistics of the company locally and globally. Gladis shared with us her experience and the great challenges that logistics imply throughout the entire exporting process.
But wait, logistics is not only about exporting! They are also related to importing, coordinating local transportation, and more! Keep on reading, Gladis will take us through the challenges and the great work behind this area of the company.
As mentioned above, the logistics department is in charge of leading the exports of our company, in addition to that, this area is key for our local operations in the different warehouses where producers bring their coffees during harvest time.
This team is conformed by 3 people working 24/7 on the administrative procedures that logistics imply. Gladis explains that her role is to coordinate internal transportation to get the coffee from the different warehouses located in 3 main locations where we got the coffee from 109 producers this year’s harvest.
Dinámica currently exports to countries such as the USA, Canada, Korea, Japan, Belgium, Germany, Australia, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia and Chile to mention some of them. So imagine the many schedules to coordinate shipments, the hard work behind!
Logistics are a daily dose of adrenaline!
This is how Gladis describes her role, a daily dose of adrenaline that she has been getting for 10 years now! She explains that meeting deadlines in order to avoid additional fees is a great challenge, “one of the most difficult tasks is to get all the information required as everything is happening at the same time. Nowadays we need to be quick with all the forms and the information we have to deliver to the shipping company as bookings are so limited and we want to avoid delays”.
This is crucial in order to meet our deadlines with our orders. “Logistics parameters have changed in the last two years after the pandemic started, there are some shipping companies that work with more or less space and we have needed to adapt, on the other hand they negotiate with you but are not 100% certain of the availability” explains Gladis.
“Every phase of the process has a limited time, so if we don't meet the deadlines we can be charged a fee, for instance, we have to notify within 72 hours when a container arrives in the USA otherwise we might be charged a fee of $5,000!”
Local Logistics and Imports
Regarding the internal logistics, Gladis coordinates the reception of the coffees in three main warehouses located in strategic parts of the country. This coffee is then transported to the dry mill and Gladis will be in charge of notifying to the dry mill the arrival of the coffee to start their milling process.
And last but not least the importing processes that are also under her responsibility, are related to raw materials required by the company and other supplies needed, so this is definitely a lot of work that has become the spine of our operations!
During the decade that Gladis has been part of our family, she has learned that to execute this important role it is key to be strategic, have good memory and trust her past experience in order to avoid mistakes during future processes.
We feel proud of our team and their daily achievements with every lot delivered to your destination!