Arístides de SaavedraOver 20 years restructuring companies, redesigning processes and implementing systems.
A straight diagnosis, a recovery plan, stabilisation and restructuring. And when the right move is to sell or close, preparing the transaction and carrying it out in an orderly way.
Cases: turnaround of an industrial subsidiary; restructuring and divestment of a food group.
End-to-end process redesign (current state, target model and implementation plan), KPIs that are actually used, and change management. Experience with ISO 9001 quality systems.
Cases: transformation at a pharmaceutical qualification engineering firm; industrial turnaround.
ERP rescue and implementation as a project manager independent of the vendor. Generative AI applied to management: custom applications, automated communications, assistants built on company knowledge, and Power BI dashboards.
Cases: ERP live in under nine months; management app for an SME; digitalisation with AI and BI.
Flow, layout and logistics-area design, and construction follow-up to deliver on time and on budget.
Case: new 4,000 m² industrial plant in Ecuador.
A company does not become insolvent overnight: it goes through stagnation, decline, crisis and collapse. At each phase the response needed to correct the curve is different: renewal, transformation or restructuring. Change management must accompany every stage of the recovery to ensure success.
EBIT from about −USD 3.5M to +USD 7M in three years, with no new debt (a team result).
Sale of the loss-making subsidiary for €62M, and of its brand for about €15M more.
Goal: an audit-ready ISO 9001 quality system and AI-assisted documentation.
7% under budget, with improvements added to the scope.
Quoting time cut by at least half.
Investor communications for a USD 1M fund automated with AI.
Industry and energy · Food and beverage · Pharma and chemicals · Logistics and distribution · Construction · Agribusiness
When a company looks for outside help, it usually takes one of three paths. Only one carries the change all the way through.
The company implements them alone. No idea fits a specific company as it is.
Rarely worksThe team puts them into practice with outside support, but lacks the time or know-how.
Usually not enoughFor as long as the change lasts, to design and deliver it from the inside, at the company's pace.
It works. That's where I come in.One goal, defined deliverables and a deadline: diagnosis, process redesign, rescue or implementation of a system, due diligence or plant design. Fixed price.
I join the management team for a defined period to lead a turnaround, a transformation or an implementation, full-time, until the team is ready to carry on.
If the challenge justifies it, I also consider joining permanently as general manager or head of transformation.
I work directly with each client. When the project requires it, I bring in trusted professionals I have already worked with: finance, operations, due diligence or technology development. Because what matters is not knowing how to do everything, but knowing who does.
My background is technical: I trained as a chemical engineer and added the management side with a postgraduate degree in Business Administration and an Executive MBA. That dual grounding lets me speak the languages of the shop floor, of systems and of the boardroom.
I have worked in logistics and operations in Spain, on the turnaround of the Brazilian subsidiary of a German industrial group, and on the restructuring and divestment of a Swiss food group. In 2016 I founded Pampa Sur, the brand under which I now work as an independent consultant. I combine restructuring and process work with generative AI applied to management.
My goal on every project is to align the company's processes with its strategy. Many companies fail when executing their improvement plans, so I don't stop at the design: I get involved in organising the project and in change management so that things happen as planned.
What I value most in my career is having worked across several sectors and, above all, in countries with very different cultures, languages and ways of seeing the world, and still delivering results. Perhaps that is why I spent more than a year travelling around the world: 425 days and 27 countries, with a backpack and overland (except, of course, the stretches over water).
The name comes from the Argentine Pampas, where I was born and where the idea took shape. The gauchos who roamed them for centuries survived on few resources and in harsh conditions: skill, ingenuity, a knife and handmade tools. That mix of flexibility and craft is what I try to bring to every project.
It depends on how close it is to crisis (see the phase chart). These are the main differences.
| Restructuring (turnaround) | Transformation | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Short-term financial results | Medium- and long-term performance |
| Timeframe | Immediate | Beyond next year |
| Focus | Survive and prove the business is viable | Prepare for the future, even if things are fine today |
| Investment | Minimal: you work with what you have | Needed to support the change |
| Leadership | Single line of command and fast execution | Clear vision and collaboration with managers and teams |
| Decisions | Fast, with immediate impact | Considered, with lasting impact |
| Culture | Keep people motivated in the middle of a crisis | Cultural change is at the heart of the project |
A consultant recommends; I join the team, make decisions and execute, with accountability for the result.
It depends on the goal: from a few months for a diagnosis or an implementation to several years for a full turnaround. It is agreed by objectives and with a clear end point.
I work directly with each client and, if the project calls for it, I bring in trusted professionals I have already worked with.
Yes. I have worked in eight countries and am fully mobile.