My technical interests and engineering skills led me to an opportunity to be hired as Operations Officer for the USA representative of Estrella AG from 2020 through 2024. Estrella AG is a Swiss manufacturer of glass lined pipe and equipment. I was hired to transition the Estrella USA warehouse to Connecticut and manage day-to-day operations, including sales, warehouse, logistics, and administration.
I began by setting up the warehouse and accounting system using QuickBooks Enterprise, where the company file would be synced between multiple company computers. My responsibility included securely storing the company file and keeping backups, meeting weekly with the bookkeeper to reconcile accounts receivable.
During my second year, I saw the need to streamline the process of importing material from Switzerland, and was responsible for on-boarding to UPS Supply Chain Solutions’ Freight Forwarding Hub. These improvements led to better process and healthier bottom line, contributing to a 300%+ YoY growth in profit during the third year of my role.
Sales Operations & Support
As Operations Officer, I was responsible for daily operations:
- Quotations and sales support for prospective and existing customers
- Order processing, BOL preparation, obtaining rate quotes, and printing shipping labels
- Picking and packing new orders
- Preparing crates for transit; coordinating shipments with drivers and dispatchers
- Receiving shipments from overseas; checking for damage and
ERP Software
To manage inventory and accounting, I implemented QuickBooks Enterprise Desktop that was synced between company computers using QBox. This way, as the company file was updated we were able to sync the file with the bookkeeper and across the handful of workstations in the office. The company file was the source of truth for our price list and current inventory counts, which were initially created by running Excel imports into QuickBooks.
Freight Forwarding & Logistics
My role expanded to warehouse management and order fulfillment, responsible for shipping, receiving, stocking, and training others on warehouse tasks. After the first year, I was tasked with securing a freight broker and continuous bond to efficiently import freight throughout the year. After research and due diligence, I made the strong recommendation toward UPS Supply Chain Solutions that proved to be a sound decision for streamlining the quoting, booking, and overall process for receiving freight overseas from Switzerland.