Jollibee Group, one of the world's largest fast-food chains, has embarked on a digital transformation journey, with a strategic focus on automation and technology to enhance its global operations.
The company aims to build a more agile, autonomous enterprise that can scale with the demands of its customers, employees, and business operations.
As part of its global business technology strategy, Jollibee Group has set goals to enhance efficiency, streamline workflows, and improve customer and employee experiences. It decided to adopt a composable architecture while maintaining flexibility across its tech ecosystem.
It also prioritised automating key areas of its business to reduce manual work in store operations and main office functions, while reducing the burden of back-end processes.
Alvin Pascual, Global Head for Enterprise Systems, Jollibee Worldwide Services told iTNews Asia that their team is continuously looking for opportunities to improve processes and avoid costs, not just within enterprise systems but also in store operations.
In addition to store operations, supply chain management and customer service have also been identified as areas ripe for automation. The company also wanted to drive faster decision-making, reduce operational bottlenecks, and improve overall service delivery.
Automation solutions
Jollibee Group partnered Workato to develop composable architecture and enable integration between cloud and on-premise systems and simplify user experiences.
Workato’s low-code/no-code platform has been beneficial to quickly prototype and deploy new integrations with minimal development effort.
Pascual said the ability to rapidly prototype new integrations and test out different solutions has enabled the team to be nimble and adapt to new business needs without being constrained by legacy systems or lengthy deployment timelines.
"This agility is essential as we continue to innovate and enhance digital infrastructure across our stores, supply chain, and corporate functions," he added.
For instance, Jollibee implemented Shop-Pay, a new solution that streamlines procure-to-pay process.
It simplifies purchase requisitions, approvals, and transactions, improving speed and efficiency and cutting approval times by 88 percent, Pascual said.
The team can now apply the workflow engine to various enterprise tasks, such as access control, invoice automation, managing franchisees, and handling project management and document approvals.
Previously, purchase requisitions were reviewed in separate systems, often resulting in delays and workflow disruptions due to issues like forgotten passwords or missed emails. With Shoppay, the entire approval process is now streamlined with workflows automatically aligned to the organisation’s structure.
Data-driven efficiency
Jollibee Group has also leveraged data and analytics to pinpoint bottlenecks and inefficiencies in workflows.
The firm has gained insights into how well their new solutions are performing once implemented by continuously tracking metrics such as processing speed, error rates, and resource utilisation.
"This feedback loop is crucial for continuous improvement. Data-driven insights not only support better decision-making but also help measure the ROI of automation initiatives, providing ongoing justification for new investments," Pascual said.
Looking forward, Jollibee Group is planning the next phase of its automation strategy with the development of a Back Office Bot (BOB). This AI-powered bot will automate key back-office operations such as inventory tracking and order processing across Jollibee’s global network of stores.
With BOB, the company aims to create a more connected and efficient back office, enabling employees to focus on tasks that enhance customer satisfaction.
