For the third quarter of the “A Day in the Life of” campaign, we had the pleasure of interviewing Alvaro Sanchez, the Materials and Logistics Operations Manager for the Asteelflash plant at the Tijuana site in Mexico.
Alvaro is a materials and logistics management professional with an MBA and years of experience. He is passionate about creating efficient systems that keep operations running smoothly in the fast-paced world of electronics manufacturing. But beyond his career, his most important role is being the father of a fantastic son. He takes great pride in balancing the challenges of a demanding job with the joys of fatherhood. He believes that staying organized, adaptable, and focused helps him at work and be the best father he can be.
Currently, Alvaro is the Materials and Logistics Operations Manager at the Tijuana Site.
His journey in EMS began with hands-on roles more than 21 years ago. During that time, Alvaro developed a deep understanding of the complexities of supply chain and logistics in high-tech manufacturing. Over the years, he transitioned to different industries, gaining diverse perspectives and enhancing his operations management skills. These experiences outside of EMS helped him bring new strategies and insights back to the industry, especially in streamlining logistics and materials management for maximum efficiency. To date, Alvaro has worked at Asteelflash since June 2023 as Materials and Logistics Operations Manager. His experience across multiple sectors allows him to approach challenges with a broad, strategic mindset, always focused on improving processes and delivering results.
Managing logistics and materials for an EMS company like Asteelflash is no easy feat. As he is in charge of Logistics and Operations, his important role is ensuring that production lines run smoothly, customer demands are met, and operations remain cost-efficient.
At the office, Alvaro meets his team and goes through daily briefings. They review the status of ongoing orders and any potential bottlenecks in the supply chain. Collaboration with the production team is critical to ensuring that materials arrive on time, in the correct quantities, and with the right specifications, so communication is key. He also coordinates closely with planners, buyers, shipping, Import, Export, and warehouse staff to streamline processes and address any issues before they become larger problems.
Each day presents new challenges and opportunities to optimise processes, solve complex problems, and enhance material operations. Alvaro definitely takes pride in leading a dedicated team, fostering collaboration, and contributing to the overall success of the company by ensuring the right materials are delivered on time. The opportunity to apply his expertise, problem-solving skills, and strategic thinking motivates him because no two days are the same, and each day offers a chance to overcome new challenges.
Alvaro prefers activities that allow him to leverage his expertise in solving complex challenges. Whether it’s finding solutions to delayed shipments, managing unexpected material shortages, or optimising logistics routes, the challenge of problem-solving definitely keeps him engaged and motivated. Also, analysing data to forecast demand, track inventory levels, and monitor critical logistics KPIs allows him to make informed decisions, helping predict challenges before they arise and implement proactive solutions.
Alvaro says the coaching and mentoring of the team is required to the success of the company.
The biggest challenges are unpredictable events, such as supplier delays, shipping bottlenecks, and geopolitical issues, which make it difficult to ensure that the right amount of inventory is available without overstocking. Running out of critical materials can delay production, while holding too much inventory increases costs. Achieving this balance while anticipating market fluctuations and demand shifts is a critical daily challenge.
The master planner responsible for production scheduling and coordinating material flow left the position when the team was managing several high-priority projects. The challenge needed to train a new planner from the ground up—someone with potential but no experience planning materials and logistics.
Alvaro devoted significant time to hands-on training, starting with the basics of understanding production schedules, capacity analysis, material lead times, and balancing inventory levels with demand, all while ensuring they understood the importance of keeping production running.
In addition to the technical aspects, he emphasised the importance of communication and teamwork, showing them how to collaborate effectively with the production, procurement, and PMs. Through real-time problem-solving, daily updates, and gradual exposure to more complex tasks, this situation demonstrated him to invest in the growth of his team, proving resilience and reinforcing value as a leader at Asteelflash US, which marked Alvaro in his career.