Peter Cronin

After a year with the company, I was offered a full-time position as an Export Operations Agent by KWE JFK's Branch Manager at the time. In October 1990, I accepted the role, officially becoming a KWE　USA employee. In those days, freight forwarding was a different world--airwaybills were typed on typewriters, and communications with overseas partners were done via telex machine. The days and nights were long, but I had fun learning how the business side of the industry worked.
Several years later, while still working in Operations during the evenings, I was transferred to the Distribution Department to handle pick-and-pack operations for multinational retailers exporting books to Japanese customers. And in 1994, while working at KWE JFK during the day, I decided to further my education by attending university at night, graduating in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management. That same year, I was promoted to Operations Manager for the JFK Export team. During the following years, I was given the opportunity to play a key role in onboarding numerous Corporate Accounts and writing local customer SOPs when KWE JFK rolled out the company's new global operating system, Unified Freight System (UFS).

In 2006, I took on a new challenge as Sales Manager for the JFK office, a significant departure from my previous roles. In 2007, I was promoted to JFK Export Branch Manager, becoming the first non-expat to hold this position. I thrived in this role, achieving new financial and volume records for the branch until the economic downturn in 2009. Despite the financial challenges, we managed to steer the branch through tough times. The following years saw economic recovery, with 2011 marking a return to pre-recession figures.
I do enjoy taking on new challenges every seven years or so, and in 2014, I accepted an offer for a position with the Corporate Sales and Marketing (CSM) team headquartered in Japan. As a Global Account Manager, I handled several of the company's major multi-national accounts, finding satisfaction in growing their business and nurturing customer relationships and in 2018, I was promoted to CSM Vice President.
In 2020, when the U.S. Vice President of Corporate Operations position became available, I seized the chance to return to my roots in operations as I always felt that at heart I was always "an Operations person". Since April 2020, I have led both Corporate Operations and the Quality Department for KWE USA. Under my leadership, significant initiatives were undertaken, including the implementation of UFS+ for the Americas Region, achieving AS9120B certification in Seattle, GDP Compliance Certification in Chicago, and establishing an independent Quality Department.
In April 2024, I also took on dual responsibilities as Deputy General Manager for our Corporate IT Department headquartered in Japan, working on a global capacity with Corporate IT (CIT) and our subsidiary Kintetsu Global IT (KGIT) to further enhance our transport management system, UFS+. By July 2024, I was also invited to become a Deputy Executive Officer for KWE USA.

From my humble beginnings at the company to my current role as U.S. Vice President of Corporate Operations and Quality, my experience at KWE reflects the potential for significant growth and achievement. I would like this to be an inspiration for others to continuously challenge themselves by accepting opportunities outside of their comfort zone as it could lead to a career path down the line they could never have imagined when they first started.