About

About William Alvarez

William Alvarez is a seasoned industrial engineer with over 20 years of experience in demand, supply chain management, inventory control, and logistics operations. Throughout his career, he has developed a strong analytical mindset, honed his management skills, and gained extensive expertise in warehousing, logistics, finance, and supply chain optimization. His leadership style is deeply rooted in a collaborative, team-oriented approach. At the same time, his exceptional problem-solving, negotiation, creativity, and decision-making abilities have made him a highly effective professional in the field.

Current Role

Currently, Alvarez works on a contract basis as an Inventory Control Specialist for JDE Peet’s, a leading global coffee and tea company. In this role, he manages lot codes and expiration dates, ensuring smooth operations between the company’s third-party logistics (3PL) provider and internal systems. He also manually fulfills orders as needed, prioritizing them based on the company’s evolving business needs. Alvarez is instrumental in performing ADHOC analyses to identify the root causes of fulfillment failures, and he communicates his findings to internal and external business partners to ensure effective resolution.

Beyond his professional role, Alvarez has a passion for real estate. He actively invests in properties and manages renovation projects for sale.

Previous Experience

Before his contract work with Peet’s, Alvarez served as Inventory Rx Manager at CVS Pharmacy, Inc. in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Throughout his three-year tenure, Alvarez played a crucial role in building the data and reporting infrastructure from the ground up, utilizing tools like Tableau/BI and SQL to deliver real-time insights into the company’s product lines, marketing funnels, and key performance indicators (KPIs). He was also instrumental in developing operations, inventory, and planning processes by automating manual tasks with custom SQL scripts, enhancing accuracy and efficiency.

Additionally, Alvarez played a crucial role in CVS’s transition to the Snowflake Interface, which expanded the capabilities of the company’s query and analytical tools. He held regular training sessions with the inventory planning team to improve their SQL skills. He led weekly Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) meetings to align marketing, operations, and supply planning teams on final forecasts and risk mitigation strategies.

Alvarez was responsible for developing short—and long-term forecast models, leveraging industry and demand trends. He also managed inventory replenishment and allocation for CVS’s COVID-19 testing programs, including overseeing distribution and inventory control. In addition, he acted as the primary liaison between vendors, CVS’s finance team, and senior regional leaders, driving monthly sales forecasts, submitting weekly purchase orders, and executing strategies that created mutually beneficial business opportunities.

Earlier Career

William Alvarez’s extensive career includes valuable roles such as Global Demand/Supply Planner at Cardinal Health, where he led the S&OP process to align business requirements with demand and supply needs. He also developed forecast models based on statistical data, sales, and market insights for a variety of healthcare categories, including syringes, anti-embolism stockings, and thermometers.

From 2014 to 2018, Alvarez served as Global Planner, Supply Chain, and operations at Hasbro, where he managed the supply chain for several high-demand product lines, including TROLLS and Disney Princesses. His responsibilities included forecasting a $100 million inventory flow and optimizing the supply chain from manufacturing sources in the Far East to global distribution networks in over 19 countries, helping to reduce logistics costs and improve delivery times.

Alvarez began his U.S. career as a Customer Logistics Manager at Ryder System, where he managed day-to-day operations at one of Ryder’s key account distribution centers (DCs), specifically for ALCATEL. In this role, he oversaw planning, organizing, and logistics operations to ensure efficient service delivery.

Education and Certifications

Alvarez earned a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Jose Maria Vargas University in Caracas, Venezuela. He furthered his education by obtaining a Master of Liberal Arts in Finance from Harvard Extension School. In addition, he holds certifications in Forecast Business Analytics from the Wharton School of Business and a Master Black Belt Six Sigma certification from Villanova University.

Proficient in a range of operational systems, Alvarez has deep knowledge of SAP, Oracle, WMS (Warehouse Management Systems), MOVE Optum, TECSYS WMS, and Provia and is skilled in SQL and Python.

Languages

Fluent in English and Spanish, Alvarez is also proficient in Arabic and Portuguese.

Personal Life

Outside of his professional life, William Alvarez enjoys playing the guitar, running, and staying active through exercise. In his early 20s, he worked as a fashion show model and appeared in commercials. He also participated in Mr. Venezuela, the country’s prestigious annual male pageant.

He is married and has three children.