Five factors contributing to SABECO supply chain resilience

SABECO general director Neo Gim Siong Bennett

Speaking at the conference on maintaining a connected supply chain of Vietnamese goods in response to the campaign "Vietnamese people use Vietnamese goods" organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, SABECO general director Neo Gim Siong Bennett said the company holds daily meetings on COVID-19 updates to ensure the safety and mental health of its 13,000 employees. As of date, 72 per cent of workers have been fully vaccinated and about 82 per cent have received their first injection.

During the epidemic, SABECO has maintained employment for all staff members without cutting salary or bonuses. During the difficulties, SABECO has tried to maintain production and fend off disruptions to the supply chain while preventing the coronavirus as one of its top priorities.

Additionally, there are a number of other departments that support the recovery of the company's supply chain and manufacturing capabilities. SABECO conducts weekly meetings on sales, operations, and plan the production and delivery of beer, proactively manage inventories to ensure the freshness of beer, which has proved critical during this volatile period.

SABECO established a network of breweries and warehouses at strategic locations, including a total of 26 strategically located breweries across Vietnam and more than 60 warehouses supported by fleets of professionally run trucks. Moreover, during this time, the corporation also used trains and ships for transport.

With a variety of factories as well as warehouses, SABECO can mitigate the risks of supply chain disruption from the pandemic. SABECO 4.0 is a digitisation campaign implemented since 2020, aiming to simplify standardisation and centralisation through this campaign, covering all fields like sales, human resources, and purchases, as well as logistics, transportation tracking systems, warehouse management, and transportation management.

Through this, it can ensure the real-time display of deliveries. Thereby, SABECO can optimise transportation routes, warehousing activities, and ensuring the freshness of the beer.

The conference aimed to maintain the supply chain of Vietnamese goods in response to the campaign "Vietnamese people use Vietnamese goods" organised by MoIT

Human resources are also one of the main concerns of the company. SABECO has recruited and trained a team of experienced, dynamic, and enthusiastic employees.

Thanks to these five factors, SABECO could overcome the COVID-19 period easily.

Earlier, the fourth pandemic outbreak from April and severe lockdowns in July had taken a toll on SABECO's business, with several outlets forced to close after beer was designated as “non-essential” goods.

At the height of the pandemic, its breweries implemented the “three on site” production model while office-based employees worked from home. COVID-19 updates were communicated daily to ensure the safety, health, and well-being of all 13,000 employees. No employees were retrenched during this period, no salaries were cut and bonuses were paid-out.