With an innovative culture comes digital transformation
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Disrupting Lebanon’s FMCG and pharmaceutical distribution market WRITTEN BY
Lebanese firm, Food and Drug Corporation, is harnessing the latest innovations to provide consumers with the quality brands they need every day
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LAURA MULLAN PRODUCED BY
CRAIG DANIELS
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“We should start embracing change so that we can be more proactive, flexible and remain competitive” — Bassam Baz, Head of IT
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T
he hardest part of a
to meet customers’ demands, adapt to the lat-
successful digital trans-
est international trends, and anticipate what
formation is creating a
lies ahead in the sector.
work culture that embraces
Headquartered in the Lebanese capital of
change and innovation, and per-
Beirut, FDC’s digital transformation has been
haps no company understands
far-reaching, but before any technology could
this better than Food and Drug
be implemented Head of IT, Bassam Baz, says
Corporation (FDC).
that the company worked tirelessly to create a
Undertaking a root-and-branch digital overhaul, the fast-moving
work culture which would foster innovation. “Probably the most difficult conversation
consumer goods (FMCG) and
you have to have is with the shareholders
pharmaceutical importer, mar-
because digital transformations can be
keter and distributor has strived
expensive,” Baz says candidly.
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BIO
“So, instead of saying ‘we’re going to have a digital transformation,’ we started to see the
Bassam Baz Head of IT
business’s needs. Then when we spoke to the shareholders and executives, we didn’t speak about technology, but we raised few questions such as ‘what do the customers want from us?’, ‘how can we meet their demands?’, ‘how can we increase their satisfaction levels?’, and many other questions while putting the customer at the centre. “Based on these needs, we put forward a business plan, supported by a digital transformation strategy, that shows the business value proposition and return on investment (ROI). “One of our key roles as the IT department is to educate, reassure and include all employees as we embark on the transformation process,” he continues. “This ensures they are engaged and understand that digitalisation will not take over their position but will make their work easier and more productive. With this plan in place, we started seeing a cultural shift
Before joining FDC, Baz headed the IT Department for one of the leading FMCG manufacturing companies in the Gulf. This rich experience enabled him to pick up the best practices and norms in distribution while working with different people from across the world with different cultures and backgrounds. After five years’ in the Gulf, in 2015, Baz decided to take a new challenge by joining FDC, one of the leading distribution companies in Lebanon, with a core mission to drive innovation and leverage technologies to provide value and support the overall vision of the company, which is to remain a key player in the supply and distribution of consumer goods and healthcare products.
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and a change in mindset throughout the company.” Shaped by this forward-thinking culture, FDC has firmly cemented itself as one of the leading distribution companies in the country, boasting a turnover of almost $120mn dollars in the Lebanese market. Present in three main categories – food and beverage, household & personal care, and healthcare – Baz says that the company’s core mission can be 06
summarised by one simple statement: “Providing consumers with everyday quality brands”. “We act responsibly because we genuinely care about our consumers and our reputation for excellence. Therefore, we always go the extra mile to guarantee customer satisfaction at all times,” he says. “On top of this, we have rich competencies, country-wide presence, solid marketing knowhow, young dynamic team, financial stability and uncompromising ethics. I think all of these competencies distinguish FDC J U LY 2 0 1 8
$120mn Approximate revenue
from other competitors in the market today.” In its latest effort to go the extra mile for its customers, FDC has undergone a mam-
2000
Year founded
501-1,000 Approximate number of employees
moth digital transformation at all business levels. Baz believes this was needed to maintain FDC’s competitive position. “Technology is transforming how we live, work and operates,” Baz observes. “We have to keep technology in mind because to compete in today’s market, organisations need to rapidly embrace emerging technologies for better customer experience while controlling cost and optimizing resources. “To be able to achieve this transformation successfully, IT needs to be looked at as disruptive innovators,” he continues. “At FDC, we believe new technologies has a big advantage on being more proactive, flexible and remain competitive. From this standpoint, it was the right time to take the next step and get ahead with digital disruption.” Led by its team of 650 profesw w w. f d c . c o m . l b
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sionals and sustainable approach to
trend in the day-to-day work.
growth, FDC has moved ahead with its
According to a survey by the Econo-
forward-thinking technology strategy.
mist Intelligence Unit, respondents who
It has transformed its front-end com-
described their company as a ‘pioneer’
munications and undertaken
in its use of mobile technology scored
end-to-end digitisation, but one of
16% better in terms of productivity than
FDC’s most cogent uses of technology
peers who described their firm’s use of
has been the way it has adopted a
mobile technology as ‘bad’.
mobile workplace approach. Baz underlines how the firm has cre-
Baz says mobility is an important facet of FDC’s sales department. Using
ated a digital workplace to promote
4G-connected commercial tablets, he
mobility which has become a common
noted that sales representatives can
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now receive real-time information to
opportunities for increased revenues,
track customer financial situations,
based on a predefined algorithm that
stock availability and promotions.
looks at customers’ buying trends and
Additionally, these tablets are also
consumers’ behaviour, for example,”
helping to automate processes by offer-
explains Baz. “Such smart indicators
ing a digital catalogue, appointment
help our team to provide better ordering
scheduling and analytical dashboard.
recommendations to the customer,
Keen to analyse and learn from its rich sales data, FDC has also explored the
meet their needs and, most importantly, win at the shelf.”
use of machine learning technologies.
“The Sales Force Automation (SFA)
“This has enabled the sales team to
solution has also equipped the sales
address sales trends, shortfalls, and
reps with rich knowledge which
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“Machine learning enabled the sales team to address sales trends, shortfalls, and opportunities for increased revenues” — Bassam Baz, Head of IT
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for leave from their mobiles,
“To be able to achieve this transformation successfully, IT needs to be looked at as disruptive innovators,” — Bassam Baz, Head of IT
check their leave balance, examine pay slips and review performance results. This service had a realised cost savings while stepping towards an eco-friendly environment.” Zeroing in on its operational expenditure (OPEX) rather than its capital expenditure (CAPEX), FDC also introduced standard, intuitive and sometimes off-theshelf mobile solutions, to become more agile and reactive.
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increased the customer satisfaction level,
With this in mind, FDC
reduced inquiries, created triangle of trans-
launched a cloud software as a
parency between FDC and customers,
service (SaaS) solution for its
accelerated the time to market, and empow-
merchandising team which
ered sales reps to pursue more opportunities,”
empowered merchandisers to
he continues.
have automated processes such
“On the other side, SFA has enabled
as planogram checking, image
sales supervisors to have up-to-the-min-
capturing and shelf share.
ute information about their teams and
Besides this, it has also enabled
related clients including geo-tracking,
FDC to have online visibility in
secure messaging, and productivity KPIs.”
promotion execution, with an on-
Boasting a solid financial standing, it
the-fly notification system that
seems technology is also revolutionising
allows the back-office team to act
all FDC functions.
rapidly if products are close to
“Digital transformation has changed the way
expiration or unavailable.
employees engage with FDC through the HR
“Another SaaS solution we
self-service that enables employees to apply
introduced is called TreasuryX-
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Click here to watch FDC’s Annual lunch 2018
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press which gives us access to a
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productivity.
management solution,” Baz
“In our effort to empower a modern work-
notes. “It enables stakeholders to
place, we enabled virtual meetings through
make critical business decisions
Skype for Business,” Baz notes. “This meant
and improve long and short-term
people could join meetings from their laptops
financial operations,” he added.
and mobile devices. This encourages collabo-
Mobile technologies have proven to be an effective driver
ration across the company and reduces the cost of traditional communication tools. w w w. f d c . c o m . l b
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“FDC also introduced OneDrive for Business which provided a place in the cloud where each employee can store and share work files, and even work on documents with others anywhere at the same time. “We have also implemented Yammer as social network platform within FDC. It is used for sharing information, announcements, achievements, activities and success stories amongst our colleagues,” Baz adds. “This tool enabled us to have greater interaction among employees.” To support this sweeping digital transformation, FDC created what Baz describes as the “one of the most powerful and scalable data centres in the Lebanese FMCG distribution industry today. “From a technology point of view, it’s a tier 3 converged data centre which supports provisioning on demand, virtualisation, environmental management system and guarantees 99.7% of data availability,” he explains. “On top of this, it has also enabled a fully wireless solution
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across FDC which allows employees to
Lebanese firm has worked diligently to
stay connected on mobile, tablet, lap-
attract and retain a skilled team.
top, wherever they are.” Combining a progressive work cul-
“We always enrol the IT team in an annual development programme,” Baz
ture with its new digital strategy, FDC
says. “This encourages them to be
has grown to become a more digitally-
more intuitive, to get more familiar with
enabled company. However, it hasn’t
new technological tools, and remain up-
lost sight of one of the key drivers of its
to-date with the latest trends.
success – it’s team. With this in mind, Baz says that the
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“The IT team also participates in the annual excellence awards to demon-
strate their work and achievements,” he
ship capabilities by sponsoring
continues. “In 2017, the IT team won the
executive education.”
outstanding achievement award for the mobility solutions that we implemented. “As part of our work culture, we strive
With a reach extending to more than 10,000 outlets across Lebanon, FDC strives to deliver quality products to its
to be an employer of choice by truly car-
consumers, by carefully selecting its
ing for our employees, equipping them
brands, rapidly adapting to trends and
with outstanding tools, opening the
now undertaking a mammoth digital
doors to new possibilities, increasing
transformation, the company has firmly
involvement and strengthening leader-
established itself as one of the nation’s
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‘Smart Warehousing and Distribution’ solutions. Baz says that investing in IoT technology could also increase speed and shipping accuracy and will also profoundly change logistics management. Meanwhile, blockchain technology could also evolve the supply chain operation. Needing to be more customercentric by retaining trust and enhancing the user experience, FMCG companies face continu-
Click here to watch ‘A day at the Distribution Center’
ous challenges today. One important challenge arising on digitisation level is the issue of cybersecurity.
leading FMCG and pharmaceutical distributors. But what lies on the road ahead? In the short term, different technology
Today, the threat landscape is evolving rapidly and consequently, FDC introduced a
trends will soon take over the FMCG sector.
Managed Security Service with
Therefore, FDC says it may explore more cut-
its strategic partner Crystal Net-
ting-edge solutions like artificial intelligence,
work to recognise and mitigate
robotics and machine learning.
cyber threats through its Security
For example, Baz believes that artificial intelligent chatbots may be used to respond to customer inquiries. In the long term, other technologies like the
Operations Centre (SOC) service. Through this partnership, Baz says FDC also gained a seamless methodology to guarantee multi-
Internet of Things (IoT) will also be of vital
layer security strategy, catch and
value for distributor companies, offering
repair vulnerabilities, organise
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“This transformation has the ability to break down functional silos and to make the company more productive, but it is also changing the way we interact with our customers and meet their demands” — Bassam Baz, Head of IT
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staff awareness training and adopt the latest security technology whilst maintaining the optimal ROI. Most importantly, this solution has also prepared the ground for FDC to comply with the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that is now being requested by its business partners located in Europe. But, regardless of what is implemented, it seems FDC will remain focused on one core goal – to enhance the experience of both FDC users and its customers alike. “At the end of the day, this digitisation strategy has two angles: colleagues and customers. This transformation has the ability to break down functional silos and to make the company more productive, but it is also changing the way we interact with our customers and meet their demands.�
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6th floor, Byblos Bank building, Rachid Karameh street, Verdun Beirut P.O.Box 11-8182 Lebanon T +961 1 862000 www.fdc.com.lb