Why Trade Compliance Fuels Growth, Not Friction

Speaker A: In trade compliance, you have to be prepared for the wars. Every single person in the company at least should be aware of where trade compliance is.

Speaker B: Diego Montemayor. He's the Executive Director of Trade compliance and Supply Chain Operations at AH, Olympus Corporation of the Americas. Diego has spent over a decade leading global trade compliance logistics international supply chain functions at AH companies like Thermo, Fisher and csl.

Speaker A: Just think that tomorrow casos or any other government authority can knock at the door and it's going to request you to be ready.

Speaker C: Welcome to Supply Chain Optimizers, the show that uncovers the controversial strategies and candid stories of innovators and disruptors from some of the world's largest supply chain operations. Let's cut through the noise and optimize your logistics and supply chain one bold idea at a time.

Speaker B: Welcome to Supply Chain Optimizers. I'm Diego Solorsano and today it is my absolute pleasure to welcome Diego Montemayor. He's the Executive Director of Trade compliance and Supply Chain Operations at Olympus Corporation of the Americas. Diego has spent over a decade leading global trade compliance logistics international supply chain functions at companies like 3rd of, Fisher and CSL. His work focuses on ensuring supply chains are not efficient, but also secure, reliable and fully compliant with an increasingly complex web of tariffs, sanctions, international regulations, et cetera, et cetera. Beyond compliance. Also, Diego is a very thoughtful leader on the evolving role of trading global business, from emerging geopolitical pressures to esg, how technology can be leveraged to navigate these challenges, and also mentoring a lot. Diego, welcome to the show. Super excited to have you on.

Speaker A: Thank you for the warm introduction. Um, you know, it's been a pleasure to speak about this topic that sometimes people, people don't understand what we do as an industry and trade compliance. So happy to explain what we do and you know, and anything that you have for me.

Speaker B: Well, actually, let's start there. Right. What does a Director of Trade compliance do and how did you arrive in this topic and field?

Speaker A: Yeah, so for me, you know, everybody has their own personal journey on how they ended up being in this, you know, industry. In trade compliance, for the most part, people have different backgrounds. I've been happy to meet different people, colleagues. And some of them, they have finance background, some of them, they have engineering background. At least I can speak from, you know, the US Side, there is no real formal education for trade compliance. It just gets naturally, depending on the evolution. There's informal, I would call it informal seminars, you know, trainings and all that and certifications, but not really like university degree. Right. There's no really such a thing, hopefully in the future that exists here in the US My personal background has been, you know, always trade compliance. So. And you know, I'm originally from Mexico. I studied foreign trade and customs degree, a, uh, bachelor's degree in Mexico. So my passion was always, you know, kind of the international trade customs, uh, and, you know, logistics. So my career, you know, really started in Mexico. I started working on a bonded warehouse for Logix and then it was sold to FedEx. Then from there, you know, I was starting doing logistics and a little bit of, uh, customs work over there. And then, um, one of the things that really triggered in my focus in my career on trade compliance was at that time I had a, ah, very difficult audit with customs in Mexico. And that turned out to be a very good outcome, right, for the company that I was working with. So that really, you know, I said, you know, I really love customs and all the regulations. And from there I really pivoted to try compliance. And since then I've been experiencing different type of industries, you know, some more, uh, heavily regulated than others. For example, you know, from footwear, apparel to, you know, technology to medical device and pharmaceutical software, I've been experiencing different type of industries. You know, I've seen different type of regulations, not only per se customs, but anything around customs. And you know, I can tell you that some people see customs as, you know, really the funnel. So whenever you're entering a country, you have to be compliant.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker A: So sometimes, although we are, you know, my team and I and the trade compliance people are very well versed in customs regulations. We also often ended up picking up other type of compliance, whether it's, uh, social compliance or different type of regulations that typically fall under other responsibilities or other departments. But we ended up being at least aware of those and making sure that if we have an inquiry from any partner government agency, we're able to resolve it. So that's really my, my background and how I ended up in this industry.

Speaker B: I, uh, really am fascinated by the answer here that you end up picking up other types of compliance, call it social compliance, other types of regulations. Really this goes to the point that trade compliance specifically is no longer a, you know, behind the scenes kind of role. So maybe from your perspective, what are some misconceptions that companies still have about trade compliance today? If you can quote a couple of

Speaker A: examples, you know, how we've seen evolution of global trade, right, since the gatt, uh, or, you know, when the WTO was established. Right. You know, years and years ago there was this conception of framework, right. How that, uh, companies doing international business need to follow. And then of course, back in, I would say even 10 years ago, maybe trade compliance was always or often seen as an afterthought. Not really in the center on the mind of the CEO or really having a seat at the table as we call it. It was more of a back office support saying, oh yeah, we want to be compliant. It's a and necessary evil. I think that's really changed in a couple of years. Well, especially last year, but definitely over, you know, five, 10 years where a lot of countries are actually enforcing regulations, are changing rapidly regulations and not often, you know, trade compliance is seen now also I like to see as a cost. Like, you know, it's a cost center, but really a department that it can help the business thrive to say, well, we're enabling business to happen. For example, I, in my career I've been dealing with, you know, Russia. Right. So we know Russia is one of the most sanctioned countries in the world, but there's maybe revenue there. Right. So if the company is willing to risk some of the, you know, there's enough revenue. Okay. You know, how trade compliance can help us to establish a, uh, robust framework and program to avoid any potential sanctions, penalties, you know, anything like that. So I see that, you know, that's changing. You know, the need for trade compliance expertise has grown a lot. Every time I get calls like, oh, do you want to, you know, look at this opportunity? There is also a need for trade compliance professionals. I think there's not enough people that can really know what they're doing. And that's why I think it's important maybe you have in a different conversation, but really the pleasure to mentor people, to really be able to expand your knowledge and really have more professionals that know what, uh, costs and trade compliance is.

Speaker B: And I absolutely, I know you are very active on mentorship and bringing up other professionals and I will absolutely want to touch on that subject. But before I jump there, how do you give this ability into this function? Right. Like you, like I actually adored your Rashi example.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker B: Hey, if there's enough revenue, what compliance program could we have that allows, uh, us to tap into that revenue but without receiving any sanctions? And that's a very clear. Yeah. Uh, example that you gave. Right. How do you actually, you know, manage to keep agile in these very highly dynamic environment? Right. Like if I take the rush example, I can't imagine that being easy. By no extent of the imagination, that's gotta Be super tough and evolving and changing and everyday changing. How do you react and how do you stay agile as a professional, as a company in these very highly dynamic environments.

Speaker A: So typically, um, trade compliance organizations were, like I said, not really in the center of, you know, on the focus on any organization. So typically we're understaffed, right. Or probably, you know, very. Having very bare minimum staff or, you know, very bare minimum investment in tools or, uh, information. So one thing that has changed, of course, is this new tariffs, this new geopolitical environment that, uh, we live in. But also I think it has to do with personality. How do you approach your team members? How do you sell? I mean, I'm not here to sell. I'm not here in the sales department or the marketing department. But I think internally I need to do a much, um, better job and I try to do that to socialize what Trade compliance is why it's important, right. Have training people be aware. And people see you as. Instead of the police, right? Some people. It's a thin line when people see you, oh, you know, it's trade compliance. It's like the police is going to tell me what to do, what went wrong, you know, I'm in trouble. But rather to change that dynamic. So people can see trade compliance personnel as somebody that can help them to be or, you know, enabling them to make that sell to somebody. Right. Sometimes it takes for us to require, uh, export, uh, license, for example, to deal with this. Right. Instead of cutting corners, right. And say, well, let just me hide everything or not, you know, really ask trade compliance people, let's bring them upfront in the conversation. So by the time we are executing, um, a sale or, you know, doing some transactions, we're able to clear the path way ahead. That's been always my position. Try to connect with people, try to socialize what trade compliance is and also make sure that they see myself and my team as people that can help them to get where they want to be. We can always be the neighbor and say, yes, what you're suggesting is not compliant. You know, we cannot do that, but if we do it this way, it's okay. So I think that's where it comes the, I would say, translation between what the regulation says versus what it's allow. Right. So be that middleman and explain what the regulation means to the operations team. I think that's important.

Speaker B: Yeah, that's a very interesting concept. Right. It could even be the name of this episode, Trade compliance. Not as the police, but as the enabler. It enables new Business, it enables cost savings, it enables new frontiers for companies if you do it right. And if you take an attitude of, uh, okay, these might not be compliant, but this is the way in which we can actually do it and execute it. So I really appreciate that. Thought we talked about the power of mentorship. Typically understaffed, not a career, not necessarily something that you study for, but you kind of like, you choose the path. Right. Of trade compliance professional. You are very active on LinkedIn as well. You talk a lot about the power and importance of mentorship and leadership. So tell me, how has mentoring shaped your approach to trade compliance and supply chain management?

Speaker A: For me, I guess I don't know if it's because of the age, right. I'm not that old. But you come to, uh, realize when you're in a certain age that you want to build your legacy. Right. And you know, and also really being able to share your knowledge with people and, you know, really start mentoring people. That's what you know. Personally, I have a passion for that. I believe that when you are building a team or you're managing a team, you need to understand the needs for each of them. Maybe it's that somebody needs training, right. That's all they need to perform better in their job. So I like to, of course there's people that probably are, you know, raising their hand and say, I need mentorship, I need support. Some others don't. But I think as a leader, you need to understand the needs of your team and be able to help them to get there. Right. To think differently. Right. Sometimes people are in the operation, you know, it's a black and white, you know, just almost like, uh, robotic execution, but really need to help them to think outside of the box and say, okay, you know, I'm presented with this transaction instead of just replying or do something, you know, quick action. I think it's always good to think about how you respond and also how do you learn and also how do you teach somebody? Because for me, especially if I have to take vacation, I want people to help me all the time. I want my team to be independent. And of course, you know, there are certain things that need to escalate, but for the most part, the goal is that for them to be independent and making their own decisions. So I think it comes with that exercise of mentoring people. I also like to say, okay, see the potential in people. When there's always people that you don't see the potential. They're very good at what they do, but they don't want to grow. They said, you know what? I know that growing means additional responsibilities. I'm perfectly okay, uh, where I am, so that's also respectable. But when you see somebody that really has potential, right. It has the need and has really the attitude to learn, I think. Whereas, you know, that's easier to deal with. What I also like to do, you know, besides personal mentorship, my people with other mentors within the business to say, oh, you know, I want to connect with these other people, even though it's a different department, you know, the goal is for you to learn how to polish your executive leadership skills or your communication style and all that. So I think it's just to make people better.

Speaker B: I appreciate that very much. And yeah, right. If you are to be thought of as the, uh, enabler, not the police, then how do you expose your teammates, your direct reports to other areas of the company so that they also think of, you know, this team is really trying to learn the business and enable us to get those savings or expand our business.

Speaker A: One thing that, uh, I think it's important that I can explain you everything that different pillars of trade compliance or areas, and you'll see that almost, you can say every single person in the company at least, should be aware of what trade compliance is. Sometimes the receptionist is shipping something internationally. So even though she probably doesn't know anything about it, she needs to be aware of what shouldn't be done. And the same thing with finance, right? Anytime we have it, price changes, how that affects duties, tariffs, anything. Right. Engineering, how product is made so we can classify for the harmonized tariff schedule, the code. Right, all that. So if you look at compliance, you know, we are probably embedded and also participating in some, you know, different departments, different processes. And I think that's what make us probably learn the business a lot. And then also, like I said, dealing with sales or, you know, exports. So I think there is, uh, uh, enough work to do. And that's why it's very important to build a robust compliance program, which I like to think about in terms of trade compliance. The program to say, well, it's similar to quality. A, uh, quality program. You need to, you know, set up the framework and also tweak it as you need. Right. There's always improvements to be made and then the constant process improvement. So that's how we, you know, trade compliance people operate.

Speaker B: Of course, you know, you did mention that chronically understaffed and, um, such a big and important piece of companies nowadays. So I immediately think, okay, understaffed, then maybe a Potential solution. You either hire more or leverage technology. Right. So I'm more interested in exploring the technology aspect of this. So can you tell us maybe two or three things, Two, three innovations that you found most effective in ensuring compliance, accuracy, speed. Anything you can tell me there about technology specifically in your world?

Speaker A: Very good question. Because often even when, uh, the companies give you goals, right? Yearly goals, they say, oh, what can I do to innovate? Right? There's nothing for me to innovate, but really there's a lot of areas to do this type of innovation. And one thing is how to implement software, tools, technology to really make sure that our teams, our staff, well first of all staff, but also make sure they have the tools to execute. One thing that I had the pleasure of doing is leveraging some of the tools or software that it's out there to manage trade data. How do you classify hs code repositories, origin determines. There's a lot of very good tools already in the market. Even you know, there's AI, right? For classification. That's still debatable whether the AI is able to classify that because one error can mean millions of dollars, you know, if you have one, uh, versus the other. But you know, I've seen that it's already developing, you know, AI in those tools. Same thing with other type of, you know, technology. There's a lot of, for example, sanctioned screenings, right? The night power screens, where you can leverage tools to do that, connect that to your ERP system, make sure you're doing transaction level screenings. So all this type of tools, I would say 15, 20 years ago didn't exist. I think now those have become almost necessary, right? If you don't have one of those and you're operating in more than one country, it'll be nightmare or you have to add a lot of people to add. So I think that's where technology comes handy and help Cuban to really execute and really have more things under control.

Speaker B: What's maybe a challenge to adopting any of these technologies that you talked about?

Speaker A: One of the things that I faced in my career is how these technologies and software can connect with your, let's say main ERP system. Some many companies, because of the nature they have acquisitions and they still have the dilemma to say, you know, what global ERP are we using? Right? So that's always a challenge when you have different ERP systems, different satellite programs that you're trying to connect all of them. It's also important for somebody, the technology right inside of uh, in the business to understand what Is the strategy, what is the IT strategy behind, you know, what is the five year plan for this right. Company? I know nobody can predict the future, but at least have a game plan to say well really how the systems are right now, maybe they don't talk to each other, there's a lot of manual work to be done. So I think that's, that's something that I always like to do because for me it'll be easy to sit in any new role and say I need a uh, global trade management software, right. But I need to understand where is the company going, what is the overall ERP strategy to understand what is the best time to introduce this. Right? Because this global trade management softwares, they really connect with different areas, right. Of the system, right? How to pull information from customers, you know, the values for the products, the HS codes, the country origin, you know, all this tree data that really comes from different side of the business and the systems to really able to pull, let's say a commercial invoice, something that you report to customs or um, the authorities.

Speaker B: Yeah, I think I've seen this challenge again and again, right. Like, and maybe tell me if I'm writing what I'm interpreting you saying. Basically you have a lot of different silos in which potentially trade data specifically can come through, right? Like different trade documents, different countries, different languages, different ways of doing things, different vendors that potentially in the thousands of vendors across, you know, dozens of different countries. So data is very unstructured, um, in a way very siloed. But in the end like you need to have information for decision makers. Right. And that really needs to land on maybe an ERP or a more structured. So how do you actually manage that is key to, and maybe the key challenge to adopting these technologies.

Speaker A: Yeah. So as you mentioned, data is king, right. In most of the, you know, places. So having accurate data, right. It'll just make you more compliant. Right. So if you don't trust, you have bad master data, right? You, how can you trust if your origins are correct or your values are correct? So yes, that's one of the challenges how to participate in this projects internally just to make sure when you know these tools are automating or automated, they can actually work. And how do you convince people that this is very important? Right. It's not a, uh, okay, it's nice to have this project now. It's a necessary thing for the business to continue, right. Otherwise you're going to end up being reporting bad information to brokers and then to customs or have penalties. Right. So I think it's very important. Right. Uh, and challenging at the same time. So I think, you know, I can think about two different ways. So one is technology. How do you leverage technology but also how you have governance around master data. Right. Who's responsible for which field, if you don't have responsibility for finance is probably responsible for setting up the prices and the values. You know, this other team is responsible for this. Maybe trade compliance is responsible for classifying the products, he's codes. So if there is no governance behind the data, I think that's where also, you know, you can have trouble.

Speaker B: Yeah, very interesting motion. Not only the data, but also the data governments around it. Who owns this piece of the data? Switching gears a little bit and I'm going to intentionally leave a very open question. What can you tell us about the current environment that you're seeing in trade compliance around the world? Any way you want to answer that one?

Speaker A: Yeah, so I think it's no secret. I think we're globally seeing the changes. I think we're almost living uh, in the end of an era where you know, international trade, harmonized, uh, systems and you know, the global E2 always having. And not only that, I mean even the UN United nations, right. I think we're seeing a lot of now countries and a lot of geopolitical changes. For example, the US is trying to keep up, you know, being the leader. Maybe it's not, I mean that's debatable if China is now number one or not. But there were seeing, you know, the power shifting and with that, you know, we've seen at least in here in the US where one of the things, I don't know if it's intentional or not, but at least it's creating a lot of waves and chaos to really change rules, uh, you know, every week almost. Right. So and you know, I don't know if in the long run I think we need to wait to see maybe in five, 10 years we're going to see fully the consequences of those policies. One of the things that I can tell you in terms of at least on the US side, you know, how these tariffs are being leveraged as a political tool and they're having direct effects on increase of cost of goods sold, increase in production prices. Right. Because of course any, you know, no country is really independent in terms of self sufficient so you still need to import raw materials, you know, some inputs to be able to manufacture and even eventually you know, export. Right. If you're exporting. So we're seeing the effects Already also, I can see the interactive effects, right? So all these freight hoarders, you know, all the, you know, shippers and, um, trucking companies, right. All the port services, you know, maybe some companies are just pausing because there's a lot of uncertainty about what's going to happen. They're not placing orders abroad, they're not reporting. So you can see that effect as well. And also some of the induced effects of tariffs, for example, that if everything is more, you know, expensive now, people are going to be spending, uh, or willing to say, I'm not going to be able to afford X or Y product. So this has a lot of changes that I've seen. We probably haven't seen that. But I all predict that this is not going to end soon, right? We're soon going to see a change in this volatility in tariff and the same thing, only in the US that has ripple effects with the countries that deal with the US being the biggest market in the world. Right. How production in, you know, in Europe and Mexico and, you know, India or China even. And then these countries are trying to say, well, if I'm not able to continue doing business with the US then that prompts me to then seek other markets. Right? So, and we've seen that. We've seen how maybe, you know, Russia, China are trying to, you know, join, of course, they are part of the BRICs, right? And they're trying to now call India to negotiate more even how can we make more business? And that's really like the power shift that we're seeing, right? And the same thing, you know, a lot of, uh, automation, AI, for example, you know, how much of that is going to eliminate certain jobs or technology. So we're seeing a significant change in the economic activity. And, you know, I'm also the same as you. Curious to know what the future lies.

Speaker B: Well, you did provide a couple of specific samples, right. On the famous or infamous, I don't know, trying to court India. Right. Like the dragon dancing with the elephant, I think, was what I saw here and there. But also you provided an example on LinkedIn, right. You very specifically quoted Chinese investments in Mexico and the potential for USMCA revisions to that. What else can you tell us about that? How should global companies think about these types of geopolitical changes and power shifts that you are talking about or that you quoted on that LinkedIn.

Speaker A: So right now it's, as you know, hard to predict what's going to happen. That's been mainly freezing a lot of investment. Right. So if I was the CEO of uh, a Fortune 15 company. I would say, well, you know, my long term plan is to invest in manufacturing country A or B. But right now if you're having a US as a market, right, it's unreal, um, to say, well maybe it's now time to do in my mind, dealing with supply chain, have one supply chain for the US and one supply chain for the rest of the world. That's what I've seen some of the companies have US minus one. This is how we're going to deal with these other markets, right? And then this is how we're going to deal with the US and then try to match as you know, some of us, the powership has been having winners. For example, I don't think that's the case anymore. But we saw a lot of near shoring, for example in Mexico where probably for some companies is still not cost effective to bring manufacturing back to the US it was still expensive. But say, well, Mexico is so close to the US and it has a free trade agreement, right? Or usmca, so maybe we can invest in Mexico. But then, you know, that changed, right? So when. Well we still have the USMCA exception to avoid alarms, but that, you know, dynamic change. So a lot of investment has been put in pause. But that's where, you know, it comes, you know, it's very important, you know, back to trade compliance. How do you partner with trade compliance to tell you, okay, you know, this is my plan, kind of vet it and make sure it makes sense. Of course things can change right now. But you know, what is the most in overall cost effective strategy? We've seen how, you know, in this power shift, the goal for the US I guess is, you know, you've seen that some of the actions that Mexico is taking. And I'm thinking it has to do with the US telling like you need to stop Chinese investment, right? We've seen a lot of uh, Chinese companies establish in Vietnam or Mexico, try just really just to put a shelf company or some, you know, some light manufacturing to be able to triangulate. Uh, and really well, let's call you know, transshipments, right? Or you know, avoid to pay this high almost prohibited tariffs. So we've seen a lot again, this is kind of like a game, right? The Chinese especially are very good about playing this game.

Speaker B: Oh yeah.

Speaker A: And so that's where, you know, legislation and enforcement comes in. Where sometimes it's a little bit behind of what these bad actors, if you want to call it bad actors, are trying to Do. So I think that's where, you know, it gets interesting to plan, you know, where, where you go next, right? Because bottom line, companies want to produce cheap, right? Whatever is cheapest, most efficient and of course closer to where the customer is. So how do you plan for that? And I think right now I cannot tell you. I mean, maybe two, three years ago it was good. Like, okay, Mexico seemed to be the best, maybe m. Mexico and other countries the best partner for the U.S. but now anymore, uh, I don't know anymore, right. I think we still are, uh, trying to figure that out.

Speaker B: Well, maybe, you know, to close this topic here, are there any emerging trade corridors or regions that you think people are underestimating today or that are maybe flying under the radar a little bit today?

Speaker A: What I've seen, what I predict is that a little bit more thinking, maybe not the center stage, but you know, a more important role for these South Asian countries, right? To be able to reduce the input from China. Right. So, you know, talking about the US how these other countries, Vietnam maybe and others are going to become a little more, produce more U.S. you know, for U.S. market. Same thing with Mexico in Canada. I really believe in the long term the US has to come to realize that you need partners, right? I think right now it seems like we're in the US Alienating a lot of even our closest allies, right? Even Europe and Canada, right? So at some point in time I think we, the U.S. government, uh, needs to realize, okay, what is my long term plan? I cannot be having trouble or having problems with my allies. I need allies, right? If I need to, I want to continue. So I think in the long term the North American, we call it USMCA or you know, corridor is going to be becoming more important. It's just that I think we need to wait and see. I think in a couple more years that's where the dust will settle, right? The dust that we can actually see. Okay. For big companies, makes now sense to have more certainty and now are willing to invest more in the long term either in the U.S. canada or Mexico. But I see that where we're going to have wordleive right now in a uh, or maybe in the near future in a multipolar world, right, where the US used to be the king, now we have other powers that are playing this game. And the dilemma, right, for certain countries, should I partner with this United States or the other, uh, what is my, in the long term, what is my strategy as a country?

Speaker B: And long term predictions, maybe if you think of the next Five years. What technologies, trends or even disruptions do you think are going to shape supply chain and compliance in the next five years?

Speaker A: That's a very good question. I'm not, you know, very. I mean I have some exposure to technology, but I believe there's a lot of opportunities still within logistics and supply chain to really be able to build tools, algorithms, AI, right? All these kind of tools to really have a more predictable, more efficient supply chain strategy. Because again, we as a human, we believe we are making rational decisions. But sometimes if you plug all your data in a, uh, AI or something, you know, tool, it makes sense like, oh, I never thought of this, right. The software is giving me the solution about actually what to produce, at what time, where should I put my product in. So I think that's where I can see that all this new technology is going to grow and really almost replace humans in a way that we don't have to take a lot of decisions. Right. So I think that'll be interesting to see how the tools evolve to be able to support, you know, supply chain in general.

Speaker B: Yeah, Some algorithmic decision making even for these very, or especially for these very complicated decision around trade compliance and multi stage produce like uh, procurement, supply chain compliance.

Speaker A: Yeah, uh, I've seen cases, right. I mean if I talk to my colleagues, right. In trade compliance, you know, everybody was initially skeptical about AI using AI, right? But you know, I've used it, I think it's not there. But for example, the AI can, you know, if you're asking for a ruling for customs, right. You can actually put some prompts, right? And say, oh, grab me a ruling doing this. So it really helps a lot, right? So whether it's small task, big task, I was telling you, for example, classification, right? You can leverage some of the tools to be able to expedite some of this reviews and processes. But I think still you need to have the human factor to be able to make the final decision. Right? Because again with all the stakes are high, right. The penalties are high, that you don't want to rely. And then of course if you're litigating and you're in a, uh, court, you're not going to say, oh, you know, AI told me to do this, right. That's not going to stick in court, right. So you need to be able to use uh, the human and the experts to really make the final decision. But most of all you can leverage technology as you can.

Speaker B: Couple of closing questions here, Diego, as you reflect on your career, what's your favorite trade compliance Story, I mean I

Speaker A: can tell something that I can actually disclose, right? I'm not going to give you anything that. But one of my uh, personal, most favorite uh, and rewarding uh, experiences has been managing Customs audit. I had experience to have focus, uh, assessments and audits from Customs and being able to challenge Customs, being able to substantiate anything that the operations or inquiries that they have. I think that's something that it's been rewarding and also something that I've seen without disclosure names or countries. But I've been involved in certain jurisdictions where Customs wanted us to pay an outrageous amount of money and then be able to walk through the auditor and say, okay, what are you asking? Or what you're saying is not true? Here's the evidence. And that's why it's also important the record keeping. How do you keep the records? How do you. I'll be able to show, improve your operation. And for me at that time, you know, that turned out to be a very good outcome for the company. We ended up, you know, winning and closing the audit and uh, really resulted in a very good outcome. And you know, personally for me the same, right? I was able to showcase my experience and you know, be able to maybe, you know, have better exposure with management. So it's always fun, right? You have to be prepared in trade compliance. You have to be prepared for the wars, right? So, so just think that tomorrow Customs or any other government authority can knock at the door and it's going to request you to be ready. So I think that's very important lesson learned for myself. That document everything, have all the backup and be always audit ready as any other probably government audit. But it's important to be ready.

Speaker B: And I guess maybe that's the advice, right? But if you could give one actionable piece of advice to global supply chain leaders about staying ahead trade compliance, what would that advice be?

Speaker A: Yeah, so for me it's really talk to your trade compliance individuals, if you have one in your interview. Operating in a global company, that's a big red flag, right? You can't have a trade compliance, right? But if you do, right, just uh, try to integrate trade compliance into your decision making process. Try to agree upfront where this project, this operation is being set up. So at the end there is no afterthoughts or risk for the company. You know, I've been lucky to have. Sometimes it's a pain, right, to sit on every meeting, right? Or certain meetings. But I think one or two things that trade compliance provides guidance for. It's very important, right? That really changed everything. For example, I had experience where business leads or sales leads are trying to sell to somebody. And then we were bringing trade compliance up front. We were, you know, we were able to screen that person, the other individual, that company and say, oh, by the way, this company sanctioned, you cannot sell to them or you can and you need a license. So all this stuff is really important to really bring trade compliance. And that's the advice for supply chain earlier, uh, departments in the business to engage trade compliance early.

Speaker B: Diego, thank you very much for coming on today. Really enjoyed the conversation. A lot of good insights, a lot of cool stories and a lot of cool futuristic outcomes and visions for what you talked to us about. Thank you very much for being on today.

Speaker A: All right, thank you. Appreciate the time.

Speaker C: That's a wrap on today's deep dive with supply chain optimizers. If you found value in our controversial tactics and data driven stories, don't forget to hit, follow and subscribe. So you never miss an episode, have a burning question, or want to share your own optimization success. Connect with me, Diego Solorsano on LinkedIn or for more information on how we can help you transform your supply chain and logistics operations, visit the stea. Ah. Com. Thanks for listening.