September 18, 2020

With the need to adapt quickly to new operational norms brought on by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Jamaican manufacturer Red Stripe says building digital capacity over time has helped the company to pivot faster and craft a crisis-resilient business strategy. Severe disruptions to global supply chains have thrown whole industries off kilter, with many organisations struggling to balance the health and social well-being of their workforce with the growing need for operational efficiency. According to Red Stripe’s manager for total productivity management, Jerome McGregor, digital technology has been a key element of the company’s success. “A huge part of the reason we were able to so easily integrate COVID-19 health protocols was because we already took steps to establish a dynamic operational framework. Over the past few years we have invested in digital technology solutions that are extremely compatible with the emerging culture of the low-touch economy. Through extensive training programmes, and a reward and recognition system, our employees have been exposed to a new way of thinking that integrates them into this innovative workflow process. At the heart of this approach was the One2Improve app implemented by the organisation,” noted McGregor. Launched by the HEINEKEN Company across its breweries worldwide, One2Improve provides Red Stripe employees at the Spanish Town Road plant with the tools needed to optimise the production process. With each employee downloading the app to their smart devices, resolving maintenance inefficiencies and generating a database for more informed decision-making became hallmarks of the company’s strategy. FAVOURABLE RESULTS “The success of all our efforts simply boils down to employee buy-in,” explained McGregor. “People have to be inspired to see themselves and their actions as vital to the success of the larger entity. This, when paired with One2Improve, brought on a host of favourable results.” Among those McGregor listed were significant cost reductions, process simplification, greater capacity for accountability, and reinforced adaptability among their employees. “The results became incentives for our staff to use this new way of doing business to strengthen compliance with on-site COVID-19 health protocols – flagging violations and responding with effective interventions became our second nature,” said McGregor. The International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, has stressed the growing need for strategic leadership that fortifies supply chain resilience during and beyond the COVID-19 era. With such positive results from Red Stripe’s business strategy, the company seems to be heading in the right direction. “Our aim has been to not only overcome COVID-19 obstacles, but to use the situation as an opportunity to look towards the future of business continuity,” shared Luis Prata, managing director at Red Stripe. “We have to be intentional and thoughtful about catering to the most vulnerable stakeholders throughout our value chain, while also taking care of those closest to home. Our responsiveness to these unprecedented times ought to inspire other manufacturers to take heed of industry best practices that can safeguard the success of the business ecosystem, which in turn safeguards the economies within which we operate.” Red Stripe is promoting a high-performance culture in tandem with One2Improve and other such solutions to further expand their manufacturing capacity.   Source: The Jamaica Gleaner

Nestlé Jamaica Limited (NJL) has announced its re-entry into the powdered milks category, thanks to its recently inked co-manufacturing deal with Dairy Industries Jamaica Limited (DIJL). The agreement has formalised DIJL’s production of Nestlé EveryDay milk powder in its production facility in Kingston since March 2020. The partnership demonstrates Nestlé’s confidence in DIJL’s capacity to deliver both the quality standards and manufacturing expertise needed for the highly competitive powdered milks market. Speaking on the partnership between NJL and DIJL, Daniel Caron, country manager at Nestlé Jamaica Limited, reaffirmed his company’s commitment to Jamaica’s manufacturing and dairy industries. “We are extremely happy to be able to launch another innovation that will satisfy the needs of the Jamaican market. We wanted to bring something that was value added to the table – an instant fortified milk powder to satisfy the milk needs of consumers in Jamaica at an affordable price. This new partnership is just another example of the commitment to Jamaica Nestlé has demonstrated over the last 80 years, which has included investing millions of dollars in local operations, innovations and renovations,” he continued. DIJL’s General Manager Radcliffe Walker lauded the new partnership with Nestlé, saying that the innovation will give consumers better value for their money. “Co-manufacturing is a great opportunity for DIJL. The increased product output will enhance our production efficiency and increase revenues and associated earnings for our team members. Our state-of-the-art facility has really revolutionised our ability to produce and maintain the highest product quality. We are excited to begin this new partnership to produce Nestlé EveryDay and I look forward to its success,” said Walker. JoINT VENTURE DIJL is a joint venture between GraceKennedy Limited and Fonterra, New Zealand. In 1995, the company became the first in Jamaica to be certified to ISO 9001 standard, and currently certified under the FSSC 22000:2017 standard. Frank James, CEO of GraceKennedy Foods – Domestic, said, “Manufacturing plays such a key role in our nation’s economic growth and development, providing employment for thousands of Jamaicans and reducing our dependence on imports. The impact of COVID-19 on the Jamaican economy has demonstrated how important it is that we invest in local manufacturing capacity. The cementing of this partnership between DIJL and Nestlé at such a critical time not only demonstrates confidence in our manufacturing capabilities, but also our commitment to Jamaican manufacturing as a whole.” Source: The Jamaica Gleaner

Lasco Financial Services Limited, LFSL, has hand-picked a few business operators from within the micro, small and medium-sized sector for a test run of a new tech-driven cashless business model system, designed especially, but not exclusively, for MSMEs that are among Jamaica’s large unbanked population. The microfinance company has gone ahead and invested in a full-service e-commerce platform that allows for the business owners to set up a fully functioning online store with inventory management, do cross-border shipping, conduct cashless transactions, develop and maintain transaction records, automate invoices, and create simple financial statements. Now, LFSL is getting ready to begin hosting the business owners, particularly those without bank accounts, in the pilot programme. “This financial service is a direct response to the challenges we observe facing microbusinesses, particularly when they attempt to obtain loans from financial institutions. They do not have sufficient records, and they especially do not have even a simple financial statement,” said LSFL Managing Director Hall-Tracey in an interview with the Financial Gleaner this week. The project is being done in collaboration with the Bank of Jamaica, BOJ, under the central bank’s fintech sandbox, which is designed to test innovative financial products, services, and businesses. Approved participants in the sandbox are subject to supervision of the central bank, which wants to promote innovation but within the context where risks are managed, including the prospect of product failure, as well as minimising the risk of jeopardising the integrity and stability of the financial system. The central bank does not provide financial backing for the projects. Those costs are borne entirely by the applicants. Hall-Tracey said she was not yet ready to disclose the size of the investment. Under the LSFL initiative, dubbed Lasco Biz, the microfinancing firm will, in essence, act as a merchant aggregator – or a super merchant to a preferred banking institution – in facilitating the small entrepreneurs, with or without a bank account, who wish to expand their sales and conduct cashless transactions conveniently across countries. In simpler terms, it means that with LFSL acting as a super merchant to a banking institution, the microfinance company can create multiple accounts for business owners to conduct transact in-store and online business if they do not already own a bank account. The details regarding plans for the settlement of the transactions and the banking partnerships were not disclosed by Lasco Financial. The merchant aggregator concept is new to Jamaica, but international businesses that act as super merchants to banks often allow for payments to business owners via debit or credit cards held by the super merchant, after which settlement will be done with the business owners. Hall-Tracey did not detail how income earned from sales would be transferred to business owners. However, the microfinancing company could leverage its network of MoneyGram stores islandwide for cash payments, or have the money sent to its co-branded prepaid Mastercard – Lasco Pay – which the company released last year. “Imagine a small entrepreneur operating a business on a social platform now being able to sell to customers and accept your payments any time and from anyone, anywhere, without the risk of sharing your banking details or collecting cash,” Hall-Tracey said in an interview with the Financial Gleaner. “These entrepreneurs or business professionals will no longer have to restrict their services to a fast-depleting cash-based customer segment,” she said. The test phase for Lasco Biz will run for up to two years, but the start date for the pilot is still to be determined. Once the test run ends, LSFL will need BOJ approval for a national roll-out of the service. The central bank’s fintech sandbox, which itself was only rolled out this year, has been generating interest from fintech companies and banking institutions looking to offer both mobile wallets and phone credit as a cash equivalent, in line with the sandbox objectives of encouraging innovations in financial services, promoting competition, and promoting financial inclusion for the unbanked. The programme also offers another means of closing off channels for the flow of illicit money by bringing more of the unbanked into the formal system. Both BOJ and telecoms regulator, the Office of Utilities Regulation, are collaborators in the sandbox programme. The sandbox regulations replaces those for the BOJ’s Electronic Retail Payment Services programme, or ERPS 2, which were withdrawn on March 2. The sandbox took effect two weeks later, on March 16. Under the initial phase of the sandbox, fintech companies and other regulated firms, such as cambios, remittance providers, securities dealers and banks, will form a partnership with deposit-taking institutions for delivery of payment services. Securities dealers seeking to participate in sandbox projects must get permission from their direct regulator, the Financial Services Commission.   Source: The Jamaica Gleaner by: Karena Bennett – Business Reporter