Can you introduce yourself and tell us about your role in the company?
I am Ignacia Riquelme, an industrial civil engineer from the University of Chile with nearly ten years of professional experience in supply chain, planning, pricing, and operations across different companies and industries. I joined ME Elecmetal almost two years ago as a Senior Global Logistic Engineer for the Grinding Media business.
I define myself as a true Santiago native, in fact, every time I travel, what I miss the most is waking up to see the snow-capped mountains. Although I have been fortunate to visit several countries, I still believe there is no sky as blue as Santiago's, no matter how polluted it is…
I come from a family spread across different cities: my sister lives in Ovalle, my nephews in Rancagua, and my brother and father in Lima, Peru. I moved back to my mom's house during the social unrest because family logistics became complicated, and what was supposed to be temporary extended with the pandemic. Today, I still live with her in a quiet neighborhood where I know all my neighbors, and I share the house with my two dogs, Rocky and Totito, who are a very important part of my life, especially since my family and several of my closest friends are not always just around the corner.
In my role, I work on planning, coordination, and solving real problems that have a direct impact on the operational continuity of our clients: if a client has to stop their mill due to a lack of supply, the impact is enormous. Therefore, my job is to translate those day-to-day challenges into concrete solutions that generate value for both the business and the client.
What attracted you to ME Elecmetal?
The first thing was the interview itself, which gave me a good impression of what working and the day-to-day would be like, and that weighed heavily in my decision. Added to that was the appeal of joining a Chilean company with a global presence and entering a challenging industry like mining, in which I had not worked before.
I was also very attracted to the logistics area itself: I had been working in supply chain and wanted to delve deeper into a function with a direct impact on operational continuity, ensuring our clients never run out of supply. And I can't leave out ME Elecmetal's ambition: the plant in Indonesia was already being built, and that appetite for continued growth and developing new plants was the icing on the cake. That's when I said: this is where I stay.
Additionally, I contacted people who had already worked at the company, and they all highlighted the same thing: teamwork. That mix was exactly what I was looking for.
How would you describe the culture at ME Elecmetal?
ME Elecmetal is a 100-year-old company, hierarchical and still quite formal in its ways. In that context, one might think it would be more distant, but in practice, it's quite the opposite. From the top down, the closeness is real, not just talk: the first time I saw Eugenio, the general manager, he approached me to say hello like anyone else, even though I had just arrived and was in the middle of a meeting. Later, he asked me about specific things: how I was doing after a hand injury or an illness, details you wouldn't expect the top boss to remember. And that closeness is repeated with my direct bosses, Francisco and Harald, who care a lot about me, give me feedback, and support me day-to-day.
Additionally, within the team, I greatly value the trust and genuine desire to keep learning. It's a young team, with which I've had to take on challenges that push me out of my comfort zone, and that's part of what I enjoy most about being here.
What benefits do you value most about working here?
What I enjoy most is meeting people from different countries and learning about their cultures. I also greatly value the respect for flexibility and others' schedules, something crucial when working with teams across so many different time zones.
The hybrid work model is also something I like, although in my case it works a bit in reverse: I'm quite a workaholic, so the home office is when I'm most productive, with Rocky (my dog) by my side, keeping me company. I also like seeing how my colleagues use that flexibility to achieve a better balance between personal and professional life, whether it's going to the gym or organizing their day differently. All this works because the team is built on a foundation of real trust: there are people in other countries who work 100% from home, and yet everything moves forward because it's clear they are committed.
Something I greatly value about my leadership is being able to propose ideas, be heard, and that we all work towards a common goal. These are things that sound obvious, but at ME Elecmetal, they are demonstrated with concrete actions, not just as a discourse.
Personal anecdotes about teamwork, achievements, or company events
In these nearly two years at ME Elecmetal, one of the most significant experiences I've had was traveling to Ghana in August of last year. The trip itself was quite an adventure: 27 hours in total, on a Santiago–Istanbul–Accra flight, including a scare where, already on the plane, we were told we wouldn't take off due to technical problems…
But what was truly significant was what I found upon arrival. Working with teams from different countries in a 2D world, via video call, is very different from meeting them in 3D: being able to greet, work side by side, and even have a casual and friendly conversation completely changes the relationship. In Ghana, we started practically from scratch, and I got to participate in the development and strengthening of the operation: coordinating planning, international transport, inventory, customs clearance, warehousing, and local distribution, with a model that ME Elecmetal had not implemented before in a country where we had no presence.
The challenge was not just moving the grinding media, but building a common way of working with people who have a different culture than ours. I learned and was also able to teach that the best solutions are not built alone or imposed: they are built by listening, understanding the business, and building trust. It has been a challenging process, but also one that makes me very proud, especially because today the team in Ghana is much more participative than when we started (they even turn on their cameras), and that for me is a sign that the relationship has become closer.
“I learned and was also able to teach that the best solutions are not built alone or imposed: they are built by listening, understanding the business, and building trust.”
How does your team help solve challenges in the mining industry?
Our work in global logistics is to ensure that our mining clients' operations never stop due to a lack of supply. This means anticipating, planning ahead, and coordinating international transport, inventory, and distribution in different countries, so that the grinding media arrives where it needs to be and when it needs to be there.
But it's also about listening: understanding the operational reality of each client and each country, because coordinating in Peru, which is nearby, is not the same as in Ghana or Indonesia, where distances, cultures, and even customs times are different. That's where working together with areas like finance and commercial becomes key, so that the solutions we build truly make sense for the business and, ultimately, for the client's operational continuity.
What excites you most about the future of ME Elecmetal?
I am very excited to continue being part of ME Elecmetal's growth in new countries. When I decided to join the company, they were building the plant in Indonesia, and that ambition to keep expanding and developing new operations is something that continues to motivate me.
I am also excited to keep seeing the global teams I work with grow and contribute to replicating that way of working based on trust and closeness in every new country we enter.
Additionally, thinking about my own career, I studied engineering at a time when women were a clear minority in the classroom - with luck, twenty out of a hundred - so I am also excited to imagine a ME Elecmetal with more women in roles like mine, in logistics and in the mining industry in general.
