Observation 8

I decided to get in the car with Cabeto and see how he approaches other companies and takes products to other warehouses. This was something that I hadnt participated in before so i thought it would be original and exciting. We visited 5 companies whose addresses he found on the newspaper and asked them if they needed a supplier that we could give them the products for a good price with quality support. They all seemed pretty interesting and they talked about various products. When we left he told me that 3 of those 5 companies would call he was always correct he said. After that we took some samples to other companies small tokens so that business would grow. Then we picked up a couple computer parts for repair in different places and came back to the office. It was cool seeing how he talked to other business people who wanted to take cheaper prices.

Observation 7

On tuesday 13, 2010 I went into kode trying to get a new perspective of things, i have decided to view more what goes on in the warehouse due to the same routine that goes on in the front of the office on a daily basis. I wanted to learn how important it was to get the merchandise of on time how hard they worked, how they measured, and how 2 people could do all this work in such a quick time as I have witness in previous occasions. I started by asking eddie, who is not really the boss but the one more experienced in the warehouse how he puts boxes in to the container because I noticed some times they go in pallets and some times they just take 1 at a time at a fast pace like if it was a race. He answered it depends on the size of the boxs and if they stack up perfectly to fit tight from the bottom to the top and from left to right, we can stack em turned or upright so they fit right. We also decide what merchandise goes first by measuring them and already knowing how much space is in a container because of experience. He also said depending on the size of the container and the time it leaves will explain the pace that they go at, there are small, medium, and large containers. Normally the large leave late at night and they have more time to do they take about an average of 5-6 hours to fill, while small may only take 2 hours and medium somewhere in between. The containers also depend if there pallets or not, normally he also stated that if there is a lot of merchandise and the container is trying to be completely filled pallets would be left out and manual labor will have to be done.

Observation 6

Thursday I went into Excellent Technlogies for the first time in a while. Today seemed like quiet day, everyone was focused on work in their computers. The only sounds that you could where of printers, phones, or keys been pressed. Also Yari Gonzales was sick and out for the day and their where no recieving or sending of containers leaving the warehouse dead. Deborah and Juan where just typing and from the looks of it ordering new products which would come in 6 weeks from the time their ordered. Just taking notes seemed like nothing was going to get done because they where just doing the exact same thing for over 30 minutes. I decided to ask some questions to Juan I asked what he was doing with a paper which had over 300 products he replied that he was checking if the products should be re-stocked, how much should be order, and if they where out of date. Deborah said that she was just checking thru all the files to make sure everything was typed correctly so that customs agents could have nothing to scream about.

Interview

Juan Jose Montes De Oca is the CEO of Kode Technlogies the comapany whos centrally located in Venezuela but has branches in different countries of South America including Miami. On Monday I met up with Juan Jose in short notice we decided to meet in his office as I had a couple questions to ask him. My interview was broad and basiclly just asked how he started and the process it took to take the company to what it is today. I learned that Juan Jose was an amazing business man with determination and motivation to not never give up. He always wanted to have a company and would do anything to start it. Juan started with a small office where he sold used computer parts. He explained that as you grow clientel you need to make space for more computer parts and need to move to a bigger place that bigger is always better. I learned that you can make your dreams come true if you just work hard enough and to never stop growing always look for more and dont settle for less.

Observation 4

This wednsday i went to the Exxel office it was a busy day as the CEO was with his venezuelan head manager and a bank representative. The bank representative was there because they where planing on opening another account for the company where the power of who gets to take out money is divided between CEO and the other 2 managers. They moved around a lot of paperwork signing here and their and all sat in a couch besides the manager of Miami who was in her office screaming orders to the other people it was hectic. Finally they took all the signed papers to the Miami Manager so that she could sign them and they where all distributed certain power of cash from the bank. They discussed how much money was needed to open the account set up a number and did it. The bank representative was dressed proffesional and the workers of Exxel were still in their casual clothe. After the bank representative left the CEO was on his computers setting up orders of camaras to see if they could be shipped to venezuela on thursday. He called a couple people but it was not possible because all the camaras where not in the warehouse and some where still been recieved. Earlier in the week they held the yearly meeting where they set up the new direction the company is going to head and its goals and plans for the year. The CEO is an optimist and says the company is going to do better than ever.

Observation 3

Jose Cabeto Tovar is the sales representative of the Miami company Excellent Computing. As a sales representative his job requires to maintain customer and support them. He also has to find new customers and provide clients with product information. Tovar says his job is one of the most important because without sales their would be no way for a company to stay open. There are many ways of getting new customers such as advertisment, cold calling, and newspaper clips. By cold calling you just call random business and offer them deals with supplies you offer. He also looks on newspapers for products or businesses. Work together with logistic to make sure that everything's in stock and ready for future sales. He also needs a good relationship with accounting to make sure that the sales get paid on time depending on their credit line. He is also trained on products available and coming in as well as technical support.

Blog Observation 2/class

I guess that the only thing that really surprised me was the amount of boxes full of different computer parts that where in the warehouse. There were all kinds of boxes stacked up in pallets all over the place there where hard drives, mouses, camaras, cases, and screens of 17' and 19' sizes. It intrigued me the way that they drive this little car inside the warehouse which drives two poles into the palets and raises them so they can stack ontop of other merchendise. They drove this little car with perfection around so many boxes fixing everything in sight so that mobility could be easier when ever an order must be done, everything was also seet according to its rotation meaning in the back the items that move less and towards the front the items that get sold the most. The only thing that was annoying was that it was like a dessert in the warehouse but I was only there for a bit because there were moving to many things around and needed space. these observations are different than my first observation because there was so much more movement going on comapared to the first day which was kind of boring because everything was so slow.

Observation 2

Wendsday the 27 for about an hour and a half I went to the company Kode Technologies. I went in with the intention of doing a couple interviews and getting some more information on their daily work life. Yari Gonzales was the first person I interviewed. She is the manager of the US company called Exxel computing and she explained to me that the name changes because its different companies inside of one huge company. She is in charge of the logistic, accounting, shipping, and recieving. As the accountant she has to prepare checks, load information into the system, and do the payroll. As for logistics she has to make sure everything gets shipped and received on time perfectly. She also has to verify merchandise, documentation of export and import, report everything to Caracas weather its by plane or ship like height, weight, damages, and how much, as well as prepare everything for customs.

Deborah Gomez is the assistant manager and she basically does the same job as Yari stated above. The only other things that she does which Yari doesn't do are invoices and coffee. Next I interviewed the workers in the back who are called Javier Torres and Eddie. They are both hard workers who take the merchandise out and into containers, check for damages, clean, organize, inventory, fix damages, and pack merchandise safely for transportation. They also take constant pictures of the containers and boxes so that if any box is damaged the insurance could see that thats how it came.

Other than this today was a pretty busy day and everyone was moving around a lot. A container had just gotten received so there was merchandise all over the place. Yari kept constantly going back making sure the workers where doing their job and passing paperwork of orders that had to be set up. The workers where moving all the boxes into places so that they could easily move other palets around the warehouse.

First Observation

Today I went to a family's friend computer wholesale business in Doral, Florida. Its a small warehouse composed of 8 workers. This warehouse is not used to sell products but to send the shipments of computers that come in from China to Venezuela where the headquarter of the company Kode located. During my observation I saw that everyone was dressed pretty slacked with jeans and t-shirt sneakers or flats for the woman. This I figured was allowed because it was not a main branch where a lot of clients come in. Yari Gonzales the person in command in this branch of the company takes care of the finances and that everything gets delivered on time, safe, and secured. Gonzales had a lot of paperwork on her desk and seemed very busy signing and chatting by msn with workers in Venezuela. Every so often she would print out what she called an order for parts and take it to the back where a huge warehouse full of all different types of computer parts and brands was located. Then 2 workers sweating because of the heat in the back would take the order and put it in the a big box, they would close it, serene wrap it, and staple it shut it was then put on the side ready to be shipped. After about 45 minutes I left promising that they would see me often throughout the next couple of months.