SAN PEDRO GARZA GARCÍA, NL.- The supply chain of the beer industry established in Mexico is a success story, even more so in a country that poses extensive logistical challenges for producers and their transportation providers in the search to satisfy the demand of insatiable end consumers.
A Mexican consumes on average just over 60 liters of beer annually , a market that contributes to the economy of more than five thousand farming families, but which has also become the country’s main export product in the agro-industrial sector.
In the case of Heineken , which acquired Grupo Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma in 2010, but whose history dates back to 1890, its supply chain has evolved in recent years based on the challenges that have arisen.
Its seven breweries (production centers) and a malt house in Mexico receive hundreds of tons of inputs and packaging necessary for the production of its beer catalog daily and, from there, the final product comes out (around four billion liters per year) which is stored in its 170 distribution centers in the country and exported to international markets, as well as to the 17,000 Six convenience stores , which have established themselves as one of its main sales channels in the local market, even as an essential part of its omnichannel strategy (physical and digital channel).
“Everything flows through the multimodal transport process: rail and road transport for inbound activities ; and rail, road transport and maritime transport for outbound operations ,” said David Gallardo, Director of Transport and Warehousing at Heineken Mexico, during his participation in ETYL 2024 , a Grupo T21 event, in Success Story 2: Beverage Industry .
The executive indicated that, following the acquisition of the Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery, Heineken made the decision to focus more on its core business and develop a strategy with third-party partners in its movement of inputs, packaging and final product, with whom it travels up to 120 million kilometers annually to supply the domestic and export markets.
“A large part of added value is understanding consumer habits to understand and plan the S&OP ( sales and operations planning ) process,” said Gallardo, who indicated that they currently have control over the peaks in demand that occur during the year, which allows them to have better management of their inventories.
However, the opposite happened during the COVID-19 pandemic, when this industry was not closed for the first time since the Mexican Revolution, and had to do so for two months. “They were going to put candles outside the factories so we could get going again,” Gallardo said.
Strategic third party partners
The extensive logistics needs that Heineken presents from its production and distribution activities in Mexico have been the turning point for the development of strategic third-party partners. One of them is Grupo México Transportes (GMXT) , based on its two railway companies, Ferromex and Ferrosur.
“We cover the main production areas in Mexico, where all the breweries are located,” said David Jiménez, deputy director of the Industrial Segment at GMXT, who explained that intermodal corridors have been built to support their clients, in this case the breweries, in their long-distance transports, but also in their last miles, even through transport partners.
“(We have developed) systems for securing (empty) cans to reduce damage and loss. We have innovated to load all the products onto the railway, which was previously unthinkable ,” he said.
According to Ángel Garibay, general manager of ALA Transportes , Trayecto (number 1 in the Top 100 of Auto Transport ), for a company like Heineken, with large logistical needs, involvement with its transport providers has to be at a deep level.
This has forced ALA Transportes to always seek continuous improvement and professionalization in its services, and “understanding the model of the client’s needs.”
In this case, ALA Transportes is involved in the movement of raw materials and finished products for Heineken, which although it is not a just in time model , it is necessary to understand that each product or input requires a different specialization in the transport model and even certified operators.
“There are a significant number of configurations for these needs and once the design of the model to be worked on is in place, it requires a significant connection in technology. For Heineken, it requires real-time production or finished materials and requires a joint design to be able to achieve the service required,” said Ángel Garibay.
To provide the service to Heineken, ALA Transportes has installed a control tower from which the traceability of the movement of goods is provided, but also as a security tool for the products being transported.
“ Today the challenge in Mexico is security . Unfortunately, in this area we seek to be as dissuasive as possible. The product we transport is sensitive to rapid handling,” he said.
In the case of Ferromex, Jiménez indicated that the company invests around 40 million dollars a year in security , in response to an increase in theft and vandalism on the railway.
“We have a security intelligence area, a security control center in Guadalajara, where the intelligence and security area controls and monitors the trains. We have drones that fly from Guadalajara in case there is a community that is going to be affected by railroad robbery ,” he said.
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