Nic Murillo has been with Koch Agronomic Services for eight years and is currently the manager of product planning and automation at Koch Agronomic Services. It’s his job to oversee product production, looking at the supply chain processes to see if there is area for improvement. In short, he’s optimizing the things around him.
“Every day is different,” says Murillo. “An average day is taking challenges head on and working with the team to make the customer experience better within the supply chain. I’ve done everything from help logistics move trucks, to production, procurement and customer service. Where the world is at with the supply chain today, it’s even more challenging.”
Keeping his team members on their toes is easy for Murillo. He’s known around the office as the ‘sock guy’, sporting an entertaining collection that has a bit of a following at Koch.
“I like to spice up my business attire a bit and my coworkers like to see what pair of crazy socks I’m wearing each day,” he admits. “I probably have 30 to 40 pairs of socks. I’ve got taco socks for Taco Tuesday and a pair of socks with a camel on them for Hump Day. They’re all over the board, from rockets to bacon and eggs and ones with Pac-Man.”
Finding his way to agriculture
How did this Wichita, Kansas native, who didn’t grow up in agriculture, end up with a career helping growers?
“I came to Koch not knowing much about the ag business, but it’s very important in the world we live in today,” he said. “I’ve gained a greater appreciation for all the work our customers do in order to feed the world. The population is growing so fast, and we only have so many resources, so I’ve become passionate about how our technology can help farmers. And being able to see the impact of our supply chain processes and getting that positive feedback from our customers, well, it is very rewarding.”
Murillo credits the team atmosphere at Koch with much of his professional success. The people in the office are a tight knit group. They face supply chain challenges together, like a family.
Family is everything
When he’s away from his office family, Murillo can often be found spending time with his family. Whether it’s dancing in the kitchen with his wife and three children, enjoying weekly date nights with his wife or coaching his son’s tee-ball team, he loves spending time around the house.
“My mom and dad had a saying when I was growing up: ‘la familia lo es todo, family is everything’,” he says. “So that’s what I saw growing up, a big family that was there for each other. We always had family around us at our house.”
But on Mondays, Murillo is not at home. That night is dedicated to family dinners at his grandmother’s house. For more than 20 years, his parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins have all come together at her home.
“She's an awesome cook,” he says. “We’ve had some cooking sessions when she tried to teach me her recipes, but she doesn’t use measuring cups. She just throws a little bit here and adds a dash of something else. I’m the type of person who needs the precise amounts, so I had to write out her recipes.”
That’s the type of person you want working on your supply chain. Someone who enjoys dealing with the details and treats his team like family.