Bimbo Latin Sur consolidates its position as a Grupo Bimbo region where innovation shapes new processes and strategies that contribute to the global growth of the corporation and its brands.
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The global presence of Grupo Bimbo, the Mexican food giant, is known not only by processing products made with the best ingredients under strict quality, hygiene and safety standards, but also by the way these products are distributed.
The Bimbo Latin Sur region is no exception, bringing together the markets of Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay as a single organization.
“Concepts such as investments or digitization are resources that are applied in the global and regional levels to transform operations," said Jordi Rodríguez Pauli, Logistics Regional Director for South America at Grupo Bimbo.
Rodríguez Pauli has more than 15 years of experience in the industrial and Fast Moving Consumer Goods sectors; he started in the Quality and Production Planning area for General Electric and now, with more than ten years of experience in Grupo Bimbo, from planning and production up to the position of Logistics Officer at Bimbo Iberia, where he led a transformation of the supply chain, the same process that he implemented in the South Latin region.
“I joined Grupo Bimbo attracted by the idea of working in a company with such powerful and beloved brands”, explained the executive.
Portfolio of growing brands
In recent years, Grupo Bimbo has integrated brands that have been key to its presence in certain markets and to enrich its global portfolio.
The most outstanding additions have been NutraBien (in Chile) and International Bakery (Peru), resulting in the management of new product lines as well as new clients, in addition to adding experienced personnel to the company.
"These two additions also pose a challenge to constitute the supply footprint in the operation, which requires an effort to unify information systems, production footprint and distribution”, Rodríguez Pauli explained.
Speeding up through Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is one of the strategic initiatives to speed up processes. Bimbo Latin Sur has led the modernization of its ERP (enterprise resource planning) in the cloud, equipped with a digital suite with useful applications for the supply chain.
“We are creating a digital ecosystem that helps us foster collaboration between the links in the supply chain. Also, through this digital transformation, we want to accelerate processes, increase our talent’s capacity and generate better results. We are delighted to bring this vision to the Company to make the most out of it", said the executive.
Ideal context for the development of new ideas
The size and coverage of Bimbo Latin Sur, regarding what Grupo Bimbo is in a global scope, provide the ideal conditions to develop and modify processes and new strategies to carry out pilot tests, and to be successfully optimized for subsequent tests in other regions.
As a result, a mature end-to-end supply chain has been developed, aligned with the support of its experienced staff and its digitization, thus influencing the rest of the Group.
“We are proud, as a team, to enrich Grupo Bimbo in this regard. We have the ‘mindset’, the drive and the need to try new ideas that help us become more profitable and to grow”, said Rodríguez Pauli.
Bakelab, contact with entrepreneurship and innovation
In 2020, Grupo Bimbo launched Bakelab, a startup accelerator for all of Latin America (which in Mexico is called Eleva and has already developed two generations of startup acceleration in the country), whose proposal was to identify projects capable of providing innovative solutions with the potential to generate an impact on the company.
Both Grupo Bimbo in Mexico and the Latin Sur division supported blockchain, process mining and machine learning (artificial intelligence) projects.
"Without a doubt, they have opened our eyes and make us think in a different way about how we want to use technology to improve processes," said Rodríguez Pauli.
Capacity to overcome the pandemic
As part of an essential industry, the Latin Sur organization and Grupo Bimbo have, in general, deployed their capabilities to face the conditions imposed due to the global emergency of COVID19. Security measures were immediately implemented to prioritize the health of all of the Groups’ employees.
Work was also performed to adapt the value chain, accelerating a number of processes based on concepts of digital transformation, such as the opening of new e-commerce channels. Likewise, to maintain our commitment to ensure the availability of our products, we adapted production to prioritize the most demanded categories, considering that people are spending more time at home.
“Thanks to the efforts of our prime collaborators, we were able to maintain our commitment to our customers and consumers, when they needed it most”, said the logistics director.
Culture focused on people
Grupo Bimbo's philosophy is to build a sustainable, highly productive and fully humane company; thus, its culture is people-centered. There is a significant effort in training employees and attracting the best talent. With this strategy, Bimbo Latin Sur's Supply Chain team has been renewed in the last three years, nurtured both by the talent developed within the company to hold key leadership positions and complemented with external talent, generating a mix capable of aligning purposes.
“Having the best talents to face the logistics and supply chain challenges now and in the future is crucial to achieve success", Rodríguez Pauli added.
RE100 Initiative and sustainability
Over two years ago, Grupo Bimbo joined the RE100 global initiative, which initially brought together 100 companies (today there are about 300) in the commitment to use electrical energy from renewable sources in the totality of their operations by 2025.
The Bimbo Latin Sur region makes very important efforts in the path to achieving this purpose. In 2019, the largest solar roof in South America was inaugurated at the Bimbo bakery in Quilicura (Chile); and as from 2020, a PPA (power purchase agreement) has been in effect for the Argentine operations, which establishes the supply of wind energy for all bakeries in the country.
In addition to the RE100 initiative, Grupo Bimbo develops a strategy based on its purpose of nurturing a better world through actions in the community, nature and its products.
“Through this we seek to leave a positive impact on the communities we operate", said the executive.
Future: innovation and growth
In 2020, Bimbo managed to operate more effectively with the support of digital technology, in addition to performing certain processes remotely, considering the restrictions of the pandemic.
One of the purposes in 2021 for the Latin Sur organization will be to consolidate the digitization of operations with a regional focus.
Another important point is the recent opening of the new Distribution Center in Chile, a fact that will undoubtedly impact the distribution footprint in this region, resulting in better operating standards. To achieve these purposes, the functions adapted for this goal are professionalized and talents to reach it have been incorporated.
“We will continue to implement innovative ideas in Grupo Bimbo, which is a laboratory helping the Company fulfill its mission, vision and purpose: to nurture a better world”, concluded Jordi Rodríguez Pauli, Supply Chain Director of Bimbo Latin Sur.
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