We continue with our monthly section on our website, the Saltor Talent Executive Agora, where we will interview different executives. This May we interviewed Luis Cabrera, Director of Operations at Bo de debò.
Tell us briefly your professional career (training, and how your career has developed)
I am an electronic industrial technical engineer. I started my first steps in business with a university agreement at Valeo, a French company in the automotive sector. Once the engineering and the agreement were completed, I started as a junior consultant in a consultancy specialized in method improvement, continuous improvement and time study, Grupo Itemsa. Shortly after being in the consultancy, I began to take a master's degree in production engineering and management of industrial plants (Engiplant). One of my colleagues from Engiplant hired me for his company as a production / process engineer at LPG, a company that carried out projects for the installation of fire extinguishing systems. Soon after, I was in charge of the production area. After the sale of LPG to a venture capital company, I started my adventure in one of Simon's companies, Simon Lighting, where I became responsible for production. At Simon I went from taking responsibility for production to running an entire production plant. As a result of the 2008 crisis, and a restructuring of the company, I took responsibility for the quality area, combining it the last year of my stay at Simon, with the management of another production plant in Madrid. My next experience, Digiproces, offered me the opportunity again to create a change in the entire structure and processes of the production plant in the electronics sector. From there, Europastry signed me up to take over the management of one of the brand's flagship plants, which was my first experience in the food sector. About a year ago, the Bo de debo family, a company dedicated to the preparation of prepared dishes, had the need to professionalize the entire area of operations, which is where we are currently developing all the necessary elements to achieve this.
During your career, you have had the opportunity to work in different sectors. For a few years, you have been focused on the food sector, in positions of head of plant and operations. What are, in your opinion, the main challenges facing the sector today?
We currently have great uncertainty due to the situation we are experiencing. I think the mobility limitation has created a change in customs, which affects the type of consumption, the distribution, the demand for the quality of the products, etc. I think that when we return to a normal situation, everyone will try to enjoy their time much more so they will look for elements that help them to do so. The food sector in general and ready-to-eat products in particular, can play a key role, and on this, companies that are capable of having a sufficient range of products, with immediate, reliable deliveries and excellent quality. < / p>
From an operations point of view, what specific complexities do we find in the food sector compared to other sectors?
Regarding other sectors, I see that there are substantial differences in the storage and distribution conditions (temperature, humidity), in the short expiration dates of the products and in the distribution itself, since daily deliveries have to be made both in logistics platforms , as in small establishments.
Reviewing your professional career, if you look back, what have been the main learnings that you consider could help other professionals in their careers?
For me, the attitude you have towards everything you do is essential, perseverance, even if things do not go well for you, honesty and humility. I think it is very important to be aware of the environment in which we are and treat with education and respect to all people who interact with you. We must not forget that nobody is born taught, we do not have the answers to everything, every day we can learn something new and everyone always has something to contribute.