|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Over the course of twenty years in global procurement, Carlos Barba, a native of Mexico, has moved to Texas, Indiana, Minnesota, and Chicago in pursuit of his career. The current senior director of global procurement at Grupo Bimbo boasts a résumé of massive organizations where he has enabled supply chain efforts to get food where it needs to go.
The procurement expert knows what it takes to be successful in a new country, build trust across his organization, and ensure that his department is never in danger of finding all its eggs in a single basket.
A Global Perspective
Barba moved from Mexico to the US to attend the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned his BA in economics. He later joined a leadership program for young professionals, rotating through different departments over eighteen months and discovering his passion for procurement.
“When you think about the core products of your business, you need to make sure you haven’t put all your eggs in one basket. You need to create different processes and strategies to mitigate risk, and for me that comes down to potential supply chain issues.”
Carlos Barba
Barba brings an instinctual understanding of operating globally to his role at Grupo Bimbo. The senior director isn’t just bilingual—he’s bicultural—and he says it’s helped him understand how to connect with people across the globe.
“Markets are so much more globalized today,” Barba says. “I need to understand how the weather in South America will impact global grain prices. Connecting those dots has always been a strong point for me, whether in South America, Europe, or Asia.”
Understanding markets is one thing, but understanding people is Barba’s superpower. The senior director says he tries to put himself in the shoes of the person he’s communicating with. He strives to understand their motivations and beliefs and to tease out the common threads that can help create a successful partnership.
For example, when working with a colleague in Argentina, Barba knows that 30% inflation and incendiary exchange rates will have a significant effect on whatever business they’re transacting.
“It’s important for me to understand the challenges and opportunities of these global partnerships,” Barba explains. “That’s where you need to start.”
Establishing Realistic Timelines
Relationships are the foundation of procurement success, but Barba emphasizes the importance of clearly defined roles and responsibilities for each stakeholder as well as realistic timelines. Without these ingredients, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.
“You need to track the movement of everything that’s going on,” Barba says. “If they’re not going as planned, you need to identify the root causes of the issue and work to correct them. Sometimes you need additional support, and I look on it as my role to provide that support and connect you to the right people to help.”
Quantifying those projects with metrics is essential, as are regular debriefs on what worked, what didn’t, and how to improve. Barba says that he’s made it clear to his team that he’s not just looking for good news. In fact, he needs to hear the bad news as soon as possible. With transparency and open communication, the team can overcome potential problems much faster, and issues are less likely to cause consequences down the line.
For those considering a career in procurement, Barba underlines the need to create fail-safe partnerships. He also cautions them to never rely on a single supplier.
“When you think about the core products of your business, you need to make sure you haven’t put all your eggs in one basket,” the senior director explains. “You need to create different processes and strategies to mitigate risk, and for me that comes down to potential supply chain issues. The solutions might be another supplier, additional storage, and backup plans should something occur.”
Strengthening the Partnership at Home
Barba’s most important partnership is at home. The senior director says he and his wife have made every move, new role, and major life decision together as a team.
“I will never make a major decision without consulting her,” Barba says. “We both know what is best for our long-term benefit, both as people and as a family. We’re open with each other, and it’s so important for me to make sure I’m doing right by the rest of my family.”
Barba says whatever the occasion, be it his children’s first days of school or another milestone event, he marks the time off on his calendar to ensure he’s devoting quality time to the support system he loves most in the world. His job requires a lot of his time, but the senior director says he understands that his roles as a husband and father are just too important to play second fiddle.
“I have had the privilege to work with Carlos for over a decade in the OTC energy trading space. We have worked together on several occasions on innovative and customized products to match his specific energy pricing risks across various parts of Bimbo. We look forward to serving his needs for many years in the future.
The Hedging Solutions team at Marex helps corporates manage their exposure to market risk in commodities and currencies with bespoke OTC hedging solutions. We service clients across the entire value chain: from farmers, to exporters, refiners, traders and large consumer product goods companies.”
–Tim Johanson, Director, North America Energy OTC Sales
