Week with the Divisional

First off, I'd like to thank baby Jesus for giving me today and tomorrow off.

Well, I must admit, this week was a little bit easier than any week I have had since I arrived.  Joe and I spent the week with the Divisional Manager in Azcalpotzalco, Eduardo.  He showed us what his job entails, which is very similar to our Regional Managers.  It is the responsibility of divisional to manage the entire depot, his supervisors and routes, and to make sure operations are running smoothy.  He also manages the thrift store, works with the union, deals with safety issues, and makes decisions to increase sales, amongst many other things.  

I learned a lot this week and it really tied things together between riding on the routes and how decisions are made.  Eduardo is a very smart guy.  He is very good at managing his subordinates and using the information he is given to make decisions.   With the lack of competition and how small the stores are I was wondering "what can they possibly do to increase sales".  I kind of felt like the "Detalle" channel was a little too easy.  After this week, I realize that it is really not.

Over the course of the week, Eduardo had us attend a meeting with his supervisors, took us on the market, and showed us some of the programs/reports he uses. It reminded me of how things are done in the USA.  On the report side, they have a TON of information that is sent to them, just like in the USA.  And just like in the USA, a lot of the information doesn't get looked at or used.  Sometimes it is an information overload and it's tough to filter through what is useful and what isn't; what should be focused on now and what can be dealt with later.  While information is good, just like anything, too much can be a bad thing.

We also worked on a route re-structure for Tia Rosa and a plan to get small Tia Rosa displays in the stores.  The union wants to increase the amount of money each Tia Rosa route is making.  To do this, we had to eliminate two routes and re-distribute those clients.  Eduardo and I met with the supervisor to figure out which routes to cut and how they would be re-structured.  One of the issues is that some of the routes are pretty unorganized.  With so many stores in so many different areas, there is a lot of overlap.  Out of the depot we are in, there are 112 routes; 58 Bimbo, 38 Marinela, and 16 Tia Rosa (they are trying to eliminate two).  These routes deliver to 2,812 clients (we do not sell all brands to all clients....GAP report......)!  I am sure trying to come up with an efficient route structure would make you want to pull out your hair!!

On Monday, there was another small earthquake.  We were sitting in a car at the light and someone in the car said there was an earthquake.  I swear, Mexicans must have some Spider Man senses because I didn't feel anything.  Then, before I knew it, people were evacuating buildings.  I clearly came to Mexico at a great time haha.

Quick story Eduardo told me:
So he rents a room out in his out to a gentlemen that sells cell phones, computers, and other electronics.  On Tuesday, when he arrived home, the shop was closed.  3 guys with guns had robbed the shop.  They put the owner and his wife in the storage closet and took all the electronics.  The owner clearly did not have enough money to pay Eduardo rent this month.  I have heard a bunch of stories about people getting robbed and/or mugged since I have been here.  I even saw one happen while sitting in traffic one day.  The area our hotel is in is nice, but I have definitely been to some rough areas.  I try to always stay aware of my surroundings because I def do not want to get mugged.  Wish me luck....