Business innovation is not only implementing technology, but also includes making small changes in the process allowing them to be implemented in the short term. without working in silos and training all employees of the organizationthat’s what they do at AB InBev.
- According to KPMG Mexico, 32% of organizations in the country make innovations to maintain competitiveness in the marketwhile 24% do so due to the need to consolidate and make their portfolio more efficient.
It should be noted that regarding The most valuable sources of innovation for companies is the C-Level of the organizations because they are the ones who generate and implement the initiatives and are complemented by the alliances made with technology companies or startups.
This week we have the third episode of the fifth season of THE LOGISTICS WORLD® PODCAST where we were joined by Marco Mosquera, Mamselle Torres and Diego Castillo, directors of the AB InBev brewery for Middle-Americas Zone, who spoke to us about The vision of the logistics CEO: business innovation.
Technology as a value adder in AB InBev innovation
At AB InBev they have been constantly evolving for five years, moving from analog to digital within the company and also having greater interaction with consumers through applications.
Marco Mosquera, Logistics Transformation Technology Director of AB InBev for Middle-Americas Zone, highlighted the importance of adding value to the business by making it sustainable.
In addition, he said that it was necessary to support and work in partnership with the communities where they operate and make a smarter agriculture. “Make our value partners throughout the chain also benefit from our business.”
He recognized that the period of the Covid-19 pandemic was a turning point that made them capitalize on what they already had as learning in technology, but they sought to develop more technological processes to support a critical business such as the production and marketing of beers.
Logistics control tower at Ab InBev
Joint work between areas generates better processes. Specifically for the logistics area, hand in hand with technology, they developed the concept of Control tower which is its Transformation and Services Center located in Aguascalientes.
“We control predictively and proactively before reactivating what happens in our primary transportation fleet (T1 what happens between the production plants and the distribution center).”
Marco Mosquera
He added that they also monitor, review and guarantee the execution of the service level, as well as on-time and complete delivery in secondary transportation (T2), that is, what happens between the distribution center and the customer.
Marco Mosquera, reinforced that not only can view a dashboard but also understand what happens with the inventory of each of their trucks in all countries where they operate: Mexico, Colombia, El Salvador, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Honduras and the Caribbean.
At AB InBev it is important to give greater formality to logistics and transportation. For this reason, Diego Castillo, Procurement & Sustainability Logistics Sourcing Director of the brewery, shared the importance of providing a better system to its transportation operators that provides them with security through fatigue chambers to avoid accidents due to the driver falling asleep, he exemplified.
We seek to have a one supply chain and be able to connect all our supplies from the material to getting our beer to our consumer in a responsible way. “Sometimes when we think about technology and innovation we think it is something difficult, but at AB InBev they invite us to think simple.”
Diego Castillo
The expert highlighted that on the procurement side they seek to understand the need that the company has to take it and connect it with its business partners, to have a elastic, reliable supply chain and always prioritizing supply security.
Constant business innovation at the brewery
Mamselle Torrres, BeerTech and Innovation Director of AB InBev highlighted that within the company it is important to understand collaborators, clients and consumers from a human perspective.
Innovation processes have to do with doing things better and differently, we know that there is resistance to change and in light of this we guarantee that there is no cognitive disconnection.”
The above means that if they want to bring up a technology issue, they develop the appropriate skills, abilities and knowledge for employees to incorporate technology into daily operations.
For example, if they talk about blockchain or generative artificial intelligence, they explain what it consists of. One of the keys is that if people perceive the value of that transformation, technology or process, they adopt it more easily.
He added that since Change Management team They are responsible for reducing uncertainty between teams when faced with the question: And with this change, what is going to happen to me?
Mamselle explained that they have a platform in charge of developing culture and training based on innovation processes and emerging technologies, as well as another focused on open innovation where they generate transformation processes collaborating with startups or external companies.
In this regard, Diego Castillo added that the collaboration is extensive to its business partners because they can share the same problems, therefore, they go out to look for the best solutions, new technologies and bring disruption.
“Today the supply chains have to be connected because I can’t make beer if I’m not connected to the maltster or the bottle supplier,” he explained.
A pillar is Closed Innovation, through our own collaborators because in the end they are the ones who are on a daily basis facing the problems and challenges of the business. “We have to understand how we empower technology, data and our collaborators so that they make the best decision when faced with problems.”
Mamselle Torres
According to the Panorama of Innovation in Mexico and Central America 2023 study by KPMG, these are the main facilitators of innovation within companies:
- 76% – Leadership
- 50% – Culture
- 35% – Foster a development and testing environment
In the same study, the greatest barriers for innovation to happen are cited, among which are mentioned low adoption of emerging technologies, little alignment between areas and little culture of innovation.
