Singapore-based JUMBO Group of Restaurants has ramped up its digitalisation efforts, with a vision to create a cross-border integrated system within the entire organisation and its key stakeholders’ ecosystem.
Building on from its digital ERP core, JUMBO has implemented SAP S/4HANA, S/4HANA Retail and SAP Customer Activity Repository solutions, with the aim to drive efficiency and deliver relevant insights for decision making to improve the restaurant chain’s bottom line. It also enabled JUMBO to focus on products customers wanted under the current landscape.
JUMBO hopes to use the platform not only to achieve operational efficiency but also to address other broader business objectives, such as uplifting human capital competency via the removal of paper and manual processes. This was in line with Singapore’s nationwide digitalisation push to use data analytics in decision making. With more data insights, JUMBO was able to further streamline and coordinate workflows across different departments.
With better operational visibility and insight into its operations and external landscape, JUMBO was able to introduce three new F&B outfits – a Tsui Wah outlet (Hong Kong-based cha chaan teng/local tea restaurant chain) at suburban mall JEM in May 2021, and two Kok Kee Wonton Noodle stalls at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands and Toa Payoh HDB Hub during May and June, amidst Singapore's COVID-19 restrictions when dining-in was not allowed.
The restaurant chain said the new ERP system would also set a foundation and momentum for the Group to explore other cutting-edge technologies in the future. This includes using IoT technology to improve outlets and Central Kitchen operations and leveraging AI customer experience solutions to help create more personalised experiences.
New tack to remain competitive
“Food is very much at the heart of people across all cultures and geographies, and while JUMBO has been well-known for traditional crowd favourites like our chilli crabs and black pepper crabs, it is also crucial for us to leverage technology to remain competitive from the internal efficiency and cost perspective, and to utilise data to help us innovate and adapt to the fast-changing operating landscape and taste buds of consumers in Singapore and across the region,” said Ang Kiam Meng, Executive Director and Group CEO.
“The F&B sector has been particularly weathered through the pandemic, but this has also prompted new, innovative ways for thriving in the ‘never normal’ and to invest for long-term growth,” said Eileen Chua, Managing Director, SAP Singapore.
“Underpinning this evolution has been a focus on agility and resilience, which has seen F&B operators like JUMBO accelerate their digital transformation efforts to be an intelligent enterprise and implement a scalable digital core that will lay the foundation for operational excellence, a single source of truth, business analytics for real-time decision making and a platform for innovation and collaboration,” added Chua.
Established in 1987, JUMBO has grown from a single restaurant to over 35 outlets across Singapore, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and other parts of Southeast Asia, offering multiple diverse Asian dining experiences via its portfolio of eight F&B brands to thousands of local and overseas diners daily.
In the past year, the F&B sector has been among the key industries particularly affected by the pandemic, requiring businesses to review and pivot their business strategy – not only for survival, but also to build resilience and weather future challenges.
