The mission of Heineken’s “digital and technology” department is to provide “data at our fingertips”, according to Elizabeth Osta, the company’s director of data management . The hope is for employees, partners and customers to have easy access to the data they need – within policy plus regulatory frameworks, of course.
Osta’s job is to ensure that data is of good quality, that it is consistent, and that it is in a standard format. She provides data governance, which will allow the company to meet its objectives of AI adoption, increased automation, plus transformation associated with business processes. Osta reports towards the chief digital & technology officer.
“My position is equal to the chief information officer, ” Osta explained to Computer Weekly at the particular event . “It was established two years ago with the official start of digital transformation in Heineken. The history of the role began in 2004, when Yahoo! invented the position and appointed Usama Fayyad , who was one of my former bosses. Since then, the particular role associated with data has grown in importance in virtually every company, so most organisations now have a chief data officer position or equivalent. ”
A new flavour of electronic transformation
As is the case with most companies that have chosen in order to undergo a digital transformation, Heineken will be seeking to modernise and simplify from the same time, plus sees the transformation as a multi-year undertaking.
In her presentation, Osta said that will for Heineken, digital transformation is all about making it easier for clients and supply chain partners in order to work with the company. To this end, Osta and her colleagues are “reimagining” their business processes to use some of the latest technologies. The particular hope is to make Heineken the best-connected brewer.
“My advice to other companies wanting to undergo digital change would be to look at the four Cs: customer, resilience to crisis, climate, colleagues” Elizabeth Osta, Heineken
“A little over 10 years ago, working in digital plus technology has been all about apps, ” Osta told Computer Weekly after the girl presentation. “Very shortly after, it became all about instant services and connecting buyers and sellers. At that moment, there was the realisation that this could not happen without solid data plus well-architected technology landscapes. In many companies, the digital teams were isolated, which made this difficult to fulfil instant services. In our organization, we make sure electronic, data and tech almost all work together, ” she said.
“My advice to other businesses wanting in order to undergo digital transformation would be to consider the four Cs, ” said Osta. “These are customer, strength to problems, climate, plus colleagues. Identify the sources of value and develop both short- and long-term plans to look for ways in order to transform the particular company in stages. ”
During the coronavirus pandemic, the role of electronic technology became critical, enabling people to work from home and to communicate with colleagues, partners and customers using a set associated with collaborative tools. The choice of tools had been important – and Heineken experimented with metaverse tools.
During the lockdown in Malaysia, Malaysians couldn’t go out to get their favourite street food. Using the metaverse , Heineken replicated the experience of road food plus added features to order food and beer and have it delivered with home. Another example associated with the use of these tools was the recent launch of Heineken Silver within Europe, which usually took place in the metaverse as a way of emphasising the particular importance associated with enjoying ale in real life.
Heineken assumes that will artificial intelligence (AI) will be increasingly critical to the company’s success and is eager to use it wherever it makes sense. The company’s attitude is that the best path to adoption of any new technology is to apply it in ways that provide immediate value.
“We have used several AI-driven products at different parts associated with our worth chain and these items have immediately produced results, ” said Osta. “On a global level, we look for the particular most promising technologies and how we can scale them to our own needs. At the same time, we encourage innovation locally. ”
Osta gave a few examples of Heineken’s use of artificial intelligence: “We are using AI to predict the colour from the beer in production. We are using AI to support our salesforce with a range of recommendations – including optimal routes, the best sequence associated with customer visits, and also to assortment proposals. We are making use of AI to take pictures in markets where there is a fragmented trade or even bar fridges and send planogram suggestions for optimisation. We have been using AI to predict availability of kegs. And we are using AI in order to predict financial cash flows. ”
Electronic transformation keeps sustainability on tap
Heineken says it really is fully committed to the path to net zero – and that there are efforts around the particular organisation to achieve this particular goal. Sustainability is top of mind within the strategies and tactics for digital transformation.
“We have a number of fully green breweries, ” said Osta. “This started in Austria a few years back with Goesser and is usually now being replicated within markets which includes France plus Brazil. We also have 3D printers in 40 breweries, with 25 more within plan for this year. THREE DIMENSIONAL printing on-site is very effective when it comes to spare parts management as it reduces carbon emissions.
“There is also an incredible effort being made on the data side inside terms associated with what we may estimate and measure. All of us are always looking on emerging information standards with regard to better quality data to exchange across the ecosystem with the suppliers. The challenge is that often in sustainability we are faced along with dark information – data that is crucial but not collected or visible.
“The corporate value string ( Scope 3) reporting requires an environment approach of data exchange. We have began with the initial first steps with our vendors, ensuring all of us can access critical production data. We are also looking at more effective data trade with retailers. And of course, there is a lot of work going on to ensure we all capture every step in our internal value chain. ”
One of the objectives associated with digital transformation is to increase communication among supply string partners. Heineken hopes that the foundation it is definitely now laying will help to make it much easier in order to do the reporting that will be required in the near future.
