LEADERSHIP

Caballero-Vieyra, SVP

Supply

T-Mobile has achieved nothing short of becoming America’s 5G Leader, with the country’s largest, fastest and most reliable 5G network.

And, even after nearly three years of highscale merger implementation/execution and a global pandemic, the mobile giant has managed to not only retain but expand on the leading 5G service in the country.

In an exclusive interview with Max Caballero-Vieyra, Senior Vice President of Devices & Supply Chain, we learn how T-Mobile has built resilience into its consumer supply chain, tackles the unique challenges of the American market, and plans to further digital transformation in the future.

YOUR SUPPLY CHAIN DOESN’T HAVE TO BE SO COMPLEX

The Apkudo Circular Industry Platform simplifies in the connected device supply chain so you can have real-time answers to device inventory, quality, and pricing questions – not only within your own organization, but across your global partner network.

Learn more

Apkudo Finds Hidden Profit And Enables Circular Economy

Josh Matthews and Chad Gottesman from Apkudo, share how companies can tackle supply chain complexities and benefit from the circular economy

Connected device supply chains are becoming increasingly complex as the number of products and industry participants grow. As a result, many organizations struggle with fragmented legacy systems and high labor costs yet still don’t have the transparency, security, and connectivity across the supply chain they need to maximize profits.

Apkudo helps customers tackle this complexity head on with its Circular Industry Platform, a single operating system that optimizes the lifecycle of connected devices, from launch to end of life. “No matter where a company operates within the supply chain, they’re dealing with all of this intense complexity,” says President Chad Gottesman. “Apkudo enables our customers to tackle this complexity and create new opportunities in the process.”

Apkudo’s Circular Industry Platform replaces inefficient labor and disjointed legacy systems with a purpose-built integrated solution including hardware, software, and market connections. “The Apkudo Platform ensures that items such as mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and wearables move quickly and smoothly to the highest value outcome,” continued Gottesman

T-Mobile, an early adopter of the Apkudo Platform, uses it throughout the device lifecycle. “Our platform assists T-Mobile with onboarding devices into their ecosystem, liaising with the device manufacturer, assessing each device, predicting its future issues in the field, predicting customer satisfaction, and determining the best possible value and positioning of that device after initial use,” says Josh Matthews, Co-Founder and CEO of Apkudo.

T-Mobile also benefits from the Apkudo Platform because it provides a simple and secure way to connect to their business partners that participate in the device lifecycle. “We provide the fabric that connects all of those stakeholders together and allows them to automate their business processes, gaining the best possible outcomes for the devices that move through the supply chain,” Matthews observes. “The Apkudo Platform is there for T-Mobile at every step of the way, tracking devices and ensuring they have the data to make the optimal decision every time.”

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Max Caballero-Vieyra

TITLE: SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF DEVICES & SUPPLY CHAIN

COMPANY: T-MOBILE

INDUSTRY: TELECOMS

LOCATION: US

Max Caballero is responsible for the end-to-end life cycle of T-Mobile’s consumer-facing hardware and accessories portfolio, accountable for selecting and procuring the devices that T-Mobile carries, and the best way to get them into customers’ hands. Within his span of control are hardware and accessories supplier partnerships, to device and accessories roadmaps, procurement and pricing negotiations, over $22bn annual hardware and accessories purchases, supply chain operations and inventory management, reverse operations, as well as used device monetization.

Prior to joining T-Mobile, Max spent 4 years at Sprint, where he most recently served as the VP of Product & Supply Chain, leading all aspects of Sprint’s P&SC organisation including portfolio, procurement of device and accessories, OEM management, Forward and Reverse logistics and operations, and second life device sales. Among his most notable achievements at Sprint, Max led all commercial negotiations with products suppliers, as it relates to Sprint’s 5G strategic initiative, and successfully secured a range of 5G products to launch on Sprint’s 5G network in 2019. In addition, Max has expertly negotiated and launched multiple lucrative iconic programmes with suppliers at Sprint, including exclusive upgrade programmes that delight customers by allowing them to access the latest and greatest devices on an annual basis.

Before joining the Sprint executive team, Max acted as Managing Director of Brightstar – Southern Europe, based in Madrid. While there, he managed the device procurement and end-to-end supply chain (including 400 Brightstarowned points of sale) of mobile operator Mas Movil (formerly Yoigo).

Prior to moving to Madrid, Max spent 8 years in London, where he held multiple roles at Brightstar, including:

> VP Mobile Distribution managing all device procurement and OEM relationships across Europe,

> VP of Strategy leading multiple acquisitions in the Distribution and Buy Back and Trade-in business as well as opening Brightstar’s first Auction House in Hong Kong that served as a key sales channel in the rapidly growing business of returned devices.

Max holds a degree in Business Economics from Universidad Di Tella (Argentina), a Master’s degree in Distribution and Supply Chain from Texas A&M, and multiple executive coaching programmes at Ashridge Business School (Hult) in London.

What sets T-Mobile’s supply chain apart?

The supply chain sphere is competitive, particularly within the telecom industry. In addition, a variety of obstacles over the past few years have added new complexities and introduced new risks. Competition, risk management, optimising efficiencies while maintaining an unwavering focus on innovation are the main pillars on which the Supply Chain of the future will stand.

This presents a unique challenge for leaders. Strong leadership is key, but leaders also need to understand customers’ needs in-depth and have a clear vision for the future while creating the right strategic partnerships to enable success today.

Caballero-Vieyra is responsible for managing T-Mobile’s complete portfolio of devices – including smartphones, tablets, watches, and routers – as well as the portfolio design, strategic supplier relationships, terms and pricing negotiation with partners, and the selection process across multiple channels.

“It involves everything that has to do with the operations, whether it's for sourcing, logistics, reverse logistics, or inventory management,” Caballero-Vieyra explains. “We manage thousands of retail doors, big web and telesales avenues, so we fulfil every single channel T-Mobile operates.”

The complexities of T-Mobile's consumer supply chain come from managing a large network of partners as well as thousands of retail locations. Alongside this, T-Mobile is working to ensure that it can supply the full spectrum of devices customers want at the right time and at the right place, while offering our best possible value.

“Our planning and execution are frequently impacted by changes in promotions, particularly around devices.