Consumer >> CEO Interviews >> February 17, 2003
ALLEN C. DICKASON is Senior Vice President and Chief Technology
Officer of Kinko's, Inc. He is responsible for all technology-
related development, operations and support for Kinko's customer
applications, retail operations, distributed manufacturing, and
information systems. He currently manages an organization of more
than 250 professionals at locations in Dallas, Texas, and
Ventura, California. Mr. Dickason's professional experience spans
more than 30 years of technology leadership roles at Suiza Foods
Corporation, Frito-Lay and The Procter and Gamble Company. Most
recently, he served as the Chief Information Officer of Suiza
Foods Corporation, the nation's leading processor and distributor
of dairy products. His accomplishments include creating and
implementing an IT strategy and leading the design of a new
company-wide IT infrastructure. Mr. Dickason provided the company
an average cost savings of 15%-25% by securing a national volume
purchasing agreement with equipment suppliers. During his 16-year
tenure with Frito-Lay, Mr. Dickason oversaw the information
technology function as CIO. His major accomplishments include
creating overall system strategy, developing and shaping a
supply-chain vision and designing a new business system model for
sales and distribution. He also served as Vice President of
Logistics for the Western United States. He was also instrumental
in developing a worldwide information systems strategy for
PepsiCo Foods International, an international division of Frito-
Lay. At The Procter and Gamble Company, Mr. Dickason held roles
of increasing responsibility in engineering and facilities
management. During his 12 years with P&G, his responsibilities
included managing facility operations in Cincinnati as well as
overseeing engineering for the general offices complex, various
international headquarters and the thermal energy systems for the
Duncan Hines and Folgers manufacturing plants. He received his
Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue
University and his Master's in Business Administration in Finance
from the University of Cincinnati. Profile
Mr. Dickason: The company was founded in 1970 in Isla Vista,
California, by Paul Orfalea. He started out with the idea that
