Ezio Testa

By Russell James Kelley

Testa is a logistics specialist, one whose services have been highly in demand over the past 30 years. And while for most of those years he worked for other companies, he now works for himself; in 2007, he founded Henri, LLC, a global logistics solutions company based in New York.

Logistics is the art of making things come together, trying to make the complex simple, usually on a large scale. Testa cites his greatest strength as his capability to bring different manufacturers to the table to contribute to the same project and “team them up.”  He says, “I enjoy solving the really difficult challenges.”

In the logistics business, Testa explains, this is what’s known as “life support.”  Examples might be a United States military operation in Iraq, a United Nations peacekeeping operation on the African continent, or a non-governmental organization (NGO) working in remote villages providing humanitarian relief.  Such operations need support in every area -- water, food, accommodations, electrical power, transportation, communications.  “Everything except weaponry,” he says.  His expertise is in supporting people in remote sites, and some of the locales he has served are very remote and are often in very harsh environments.

In 2002, for example, while working for IHC Services, a subsidiary of Italian construction giant Torno, Testa was involved in preparations for Operation Iraqi Freedom.  “We put 18,000 troops in the middle of the Kuwaiti desert where there was nothing but sand,” he says, “and in 96 days they had everything.”  The operation involved flying in supplies and support using, among other aircraft, the Antonov 124, the largest cargo plane on earth, significantly larger than U.S. military’s C5 plane. 

Keeping costs down

Testa was born and grew up in Fiorenzuola d’Arda, a small village near Milan.  After becoming a civil engineer, his first job was with the Italian pipeline company Condotte e Strade.  His first large project was the construction of an oil pipeline from Iraq to Turkey. In 1977 he went to work for Torno, which at its zenith was the third largest construction company in Europe.  For more than 20 years he was involved in supply and subcontracts for one heavy civil construction project after another, involving bridges, tunnels and dams. By 1982, he was handling procurement logistics for all of Torno’s 105 global subsidiaries.

“The greatest satisfaction in the job is that you can say, ‘Despite everything, I did it,’” he says.

One of Testa’s specialties is cost control.  He has a knack for keeping costs down through innovative management techniques. His skills in keeping finances in order derive from his experience in heavy construction, where budgets are often tight and bidding departments are sometimes prone to make mistakes. “They’ll bid one price, and then you find out the reality is different, and you have to look at alternative ways of moving forward, such as changing the strategy,” he says. For example, on one project he used dump trucks instead of scrapers, which saved 25 percent on the purchase of equipment.

He has also done it the other way. Working on a project in the Philippines in the late 1980s, Testa was able to save $18 million by using graders to move dirt rather than dump trucks on a road building project on Mindanao Island.

The real trick, Testa says, is to put together the right combination of manufacturers so that the project gets the best value for its money. “In this business you have to be very loyal unless something goes sour.”  Testa tries to stick with the same companies from project to project, so he knows who he’s working with and the kind of products he’s getting.

Of course another factor in controlling costs, Testa says, is staying aware of what you can do and what you can’t.

“The rule is, you only pick the war that you think you’re going to win,” he says. “There are projects I know about that we would not have a chance of winning, often for different reasons, and when that’s the case, we don’t bid, period.”

Independence has its benefits

Testa has found being in business for himself to be significantly different than working with a corporate giant like Torno.  When working for large companies, he found that there were instances where it was easier to be profitable because the companies had lines of credit to purchase directly from the suppliers.  Being independent, he found himself somewhat at a disadvantage on some projects because it takes time to build a customer base and establish a portfolio of repeat business.  On the other hand, he has also found that it makes his job a bit easier not having to deal with a board of directors or shareholders.

“In the corporate world, you always find yourself in a situation where board members get into arguments about who should do this or say that,” he said.

His interest in coin collecting is largely based on his affinity for Roman and Italian history.  His father gave him a collection of old Italian coins that date back to when Italy was a group of independent kingdoms, all coining their own money.  He tries to continue and grow the collection, but he said that the hobby has become so expensive that’s almost prohibitive. “Today, I probably buy a couple of coins a year,” he says.

Testa studied karate when he was young, but gave it up when he was in his twenties.  And he muses he’s probably the only person who grew up in Italy and doesn’t like soccer.  His wife Tiziana, a striking 5’11” former volleyball player, shares his interest in coin collecting and the fine arts.  Together, they have one son, Enrico, who studies mathematics at the Polytecnico in Milan.

Because of the nature of the logistics business, the Testas have moved around from project to project.  They have lived in Milan, Turkey, Dubai, Tehran and San Francisco. For the last several years, however, they have lived on Manhattan’s upper east side.  “We’ll see what tomorrow brings,” he says with a smile, a man ready for any challenge.  █