TORONTO, Ont. — Ginnie Venslovaitis, well known to many of Canada’s top motor carriers as the transportation manager of Unilever Canada, was awarded the CITA Distribution Executive of the Year at the recent TRANSPO show and conference.

Winners of the prestigious award, are those who show vision and whose actions make a lasting impression on both their industry and the profession of supply chain management.

Unilever spends close to $30 million in cartage business annually and Venslovaitis has developed a reputation for applying an extensive selection process. The select group of carriers that get to haul for Unilever must meet a stringent check list and pass on-site inspections of their terminals and equipment and be ready to provide an increasing amount of electronic data to keep Unilever’s customers better informed.

"A tough task master, indeed. But also one with a reputation for building close working relationships with suppliers that benefit both sides," B.I.G. Transportation Media editorial director Lou Smyrlis said in presenting the award at the TRANSPO dinner gala. He pointed to how she led a study of Unilever’s warehousing and transportation groups and her largest Western carrier to increase the cube capacity in longhaul containers.

Other career highlights include convincing Unilever management to embrace the idea of using intermodal containers to transport multiple pallets of margarine stacked on logistics bars and by so doing cutting weekly shipments by more than half.

She has also been instrumental in introducing electronic transmission of notices and was part of a two-year project that helped shift Unilever from an AS 400 ERP system to an SAP platform.