Kanchana Viswanathan
Senior Business Analyst
Chennai
Summary
Results-driven business professional with 23 years in customer service and procurement. Expertise includes managing customer support operations, vendor coordination, and contract negotiations. Contributed to digital transformation at Hapag-Lloyd, transitioning legacy systems to cloud-based platforms. Proven skills in stakeholder management, requirement gathering, and software development life cycle within the shipping domain.
Overview
1
1
Language
2
2
Certifications
25
25
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Business Analyst
HAPAG LLOYD TECHNOLOGY CENTER
01.2023 - Current
- Engage with different levels of stakeholders (Product Owners, Business Users, Solution Architects, and Development team) to gather, refine, and develop the business requirements through transparent communication and timely status updates, ensuring alignment between project deliverables and business objectives.
- Translate high-level business needs into clear user stories to plan in Agile sprints. Analyze current business processes within Pricing, Tariff, and Guideline management. Serve as a bridge between business and development teams in an Agile scrum environment by conducting user story refinement, Sprint reviews, and requirement gathering (weekly catch-up, monthly) meetings with stakeholders. Conduct regression, functional testing, support UAT (User Acceptance Testing), and validate delivery against requirements. Engage with a 1:1 transformation project for Pricing Tariff management, Guideline management, and Quotation retrieval systems. Facilitated requirement gathering workshops, resulting in clear project objectives and deliverables.
- Documented technical solutions – SADA, ARC 42 and dependencies, Be part of effort estimations, and project milestones to support project planning and delivery.
- Worked with cross-functional teams to ensure successful implementation and global roll-out readiness of the solution.
- Wrote SQL queries using joins, subqueries, and correlated subqueries to retrieve data from the database.
Manager – North American Trade
VSTRANS LOJISTIK LLP
02.2022 - 05.2022
- Handled U.S. contract filing with shipping lines and monthly FAK (Freight All Kinds) rate procurement.
- Managed pricing activities and coordinated with overseas agents.
- Identified and onboarded new agents and arranged the required documentation for MOU agreements.
- Managed profit-sharing calculations with agents for each shipment.
- Handled Key Account Management (KAM) and maintained relationships with major customers.
- Reason for Leaving: The company operations were discontinued as the shipping line contract was not finalized.
Assistant Manager – Pricing
Worldwide Logistics Pvt Ltd
06.2019 - 12.2021
- Managed U.S. contract rate filing with multiple carriers, ensuring accurate and timely submissions.
- Handled customer enquiries and rate management by coordinating with shippers and overseas agents.
- Conducted rate negotiations and tariff filings for both FCL (Full Container Load) and LCL (Less than Container Load) shipments.
- Supported sales activities for SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) customers, providing competitive logistics solutions.
- Coordinated end-to-end shipment operations, ensuring smooth execution from booking to delivery.
Procurement Specialist
FREIGHTBRO LOGISTICS PVT LTD
04.2018 - 05.2019
- Managed freight pricing with major shipping lines for shipment requests received from the sales team and customer inquiries.
- Maintained strong relationships with shipping liners and monitored procurement activities based on KPIs.
- Handled pricing for both export and import shipments based on POL (Port of Loading) and POD (Port of Discharge).
- Coordinated through email with liners for account-related communication and collected monthly rate sheets.
- Provided pricing support to the sales team for export and import shipments.
- Managed procurement activities based on trade lanes and cargo demand.
- Prepared container inventory reports by coordinating with liners, NVOCCs, and other vendors.
Sr. Pricing Executive
CONNECT CARGO PVT LTD
11.2017 - 03.2018
- Managed freight pricing with main shipping lines and NVOCCs based on sales requests and email inquiries for South Sea ports.
- Coordinated with overseas agents to get the best import freight rates and provided quotations to customers.
- Communicated with customers regarding shipment bookings and documentation processes.
Commercial Executive
PUYVAST MARITIME INDIA PVT LTD
10.2015 - 10.2017
- Managed export shipments of granite (break bulk cargo).
- Handled vessel arrival documents, cargo documents, and payment follow-ups for Bill of Lading (BL) release.
- Monitored vessel schedules and berthing status.
- Coordinated the movement of cargo to vessels for loading.
- Prepared and sent daily cargo arrival and yard stock reports to the Head Office.
- Obtained competitive freight rates from shipping lines and filed shipping bills for container shipments of granite slabs and blocks.
- Handled Form 13 submission and VGM documentation.
- Raised debit notes to shippers and followed up on required documents such as Certificate of Origin and Fumigation Certificate.
- Prepared granite block weight and loading arrangement reports and shared them with the Head Office in the Netherlands – Puyvast B.V. after shipment.
Logistics Executive
VERTI IMPEX
04.2013 - 07.2015
- Handled import documentation and coordinated with Custom House Agents (CHA).
- Prepared export Bills of Lading (B/L) and debit notes.
- Coordinated with shipping lines and provided shipping instructions when required.
- Managed inland transportation and delivery of cargo.
- Prepared cover letters and handled buyer and supplier documents related to export and import processes.
- Managed payments and required forms for interstate cargo transportation.
- Coordinated with CFS operations to ensure timely cargo delivery.
Procurement Analyst – Internship
Ferra Frames Super Structures (I) Pvt Ltd
01.2013 - 03.2013
- Assisted in purchasing materials by negotiating prices, terms, and delivery timelines with suppliers.
- Sourced suppliers and obtained competitive quotes for bulk materials.
- Supported site teams in material sourcing and vendor coordination.
- Managed transportation and delivery of purchased materials to project sites.
- Collected supplier quotations and delivery timelines and verified purchase amounts with received goods.
- Handled supplier invoices and forwarded them to the accounting team for processing.
Team Leader – Admin & HR
M Power IT Systems Ltd
06.2008 - 07.2011
- Coordinated recruitment support activities for hiring software testing resources on full-time and contract roles.
- Maintained employee records, attendance, leave management, and payroll reports.
- Prepared statutory and HR reports related to employee data and attendance.
- Worked with the training team to support employee development and training programs.
- Organized team-building activities and encouraged employee participation.
- Acted as the single point of contact (SPOC) for employee concerns and HR-related issues.
- Team Size: 3
Team Leader – Compliance
Scope International
09.2006 - 02.2008
- Managed credit card accounts and handled escalated customer issues.
- Supported cross-selling of credit card products using sales and pitching techniques.
- Handled customer complaint cases and prepared issue reports for the UAE team.
Team Leader – Operations
Dell – SMB Sales & ACS Technical Support Division
09.2003 - 08.2006
- Managed a team of agents across Bangalore and Chennai locations.
- Monitored Small and Medium Business (SMB) sales calls.
- Coordinated with teams for delivery and shipment of Dell computers.
- Verified system configurations based on customer requirements using Dell tools.
- Used the Dell credit system to check customer eligibility for purchases.
- Coordinated with the technical support team for warranty and technical issues.
- Shared sales leads with the sales team for additional product opportunities.
- Verified rebate eligibility for customers.
- Team Size: 45
Customer Support Officer
Allsec Technologies Pvt Ltd
02.2001 - 08.2006
- Completed US Accounts Payable process training at Ford Business Service Center.
- Maintained comprehensive records of supplier queries and purchase history to support accurate invoicing.
- Handled automatic invoicing and payment release for supplier accounts.
- Managed automatic invoicing and payment release process for supplier accounts, ensuring timely payments.
- Followed up with plants and delivery teams to ensure timely delivery of materials.
- Provided timely updates on delivery, shipment status, and goods tracking to optimize supply chain communication.
- Provided updates on delivery, shipment status, and goods tracking.
- Worked with GAPS (General Accounts Payment System) for invoice processing.
- Project: Ford Accounts Payable – Customer Support Officer
- Apr 2001 – Apr 2003
Education
Diploma - Supply Chain Management
01-2014
B.Sc. - Computer Science
01-1997
Skills
Project management
Data analysis
Project management tools
SAFe certification
Customer Targeting
Vendor management
Negotiation skills
Office software proficiency
Results-oriented
Certification
Certification in Import and Export Documentation and Procedures, MSME – Government of India
Timeline
Senior Business Analyst - HAPAG LLOYD TECHNOLOGY CENTER
01.2023 - Current
Manager – North American Trade - VSTRANS LOJISTIK LLP
02.2022 - 05.2022
Assistant Manager – Pricing - Worldwide Logistics Pvt Ltd
06.2019 - 12.2021
Procurement Specialist - FREIGHTBRO LOGISTICS PVT LTD
04.2018 - 05.2019
Sr. Pricing Executive - CONNECT CARGO PVT LTD
11.2017 - 03.2018
Commercial Executive - PUYVAST MARITIME INDIA PVT LTD
10.2015 - 10.2017
Logistics Executive - VERTI IMPEX
04.2013 - 07.2015
Procurement Analyst – Internship - Ferra Frames Super Structures (I) Pvt Ltd
01.2013 - 03.2013
Team Leader – Admin & HR - M Power IT Systems Ltd
06.2008 - 07.2011
Team Leader – Compliance - Scope International
09.2006 - 02.2008
Team Leader – Operations - Dell – SMB Sales & ACS Technical Support Division
09.2003 - 08.2006
Customer Support Officer - Allsec Technologies Pvt Ltd
02.2001 - 08.2006
Anna Adarsh College for Women - B.Sc., Computer Science
Institute of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) - Diploma, Supply Chain Management