2022 was a very good year for Universal Robina Corporation. Its net income of Php14.47 billion is a 12% bump from 2021, no doubt enjoying a major boost from the record sales of Php149.9 billion, which is 28% higher than the previous year.
Another cause for celebration was URC maintaining its stature as one of the country’s favorite food brands. According to the London-based brand consulting firm Kantar Group, URC’s segment-leading products – including Great Taste, Piattos, Nova, and C2 – continue to be among the most-chosen brands in the Philippines, while the company’s Payless and Nissin noodle brands are heralded as among the fastest rising.
While all departments in the food and beverage manufacturing giant deserve praise for the company’s superlative performance in 2022, the achievements of URC’s Integrated Supply Chain should not be overlooked, especially after rising to the challenges continually thrown its way in recent years.
Thanks to the resilience, grit, and dedication shown by the ISC team, millions of Filipino consumers have been able to buy and enjoy their favorite food and beverage products despite tremendous supply chain obstacles caused by the Covid pandemic, runaway global inflation, the continuing Ukraine-Russia conflict, rising geo-political tensions between the US and China, and port congestion, just to name a few.
If the end consumer has been able to readily purchase URC’s world-class food and beverage products at very reasonable costs in recent years, the ISC had a major hand in that.
To give credit where its due, the company recently held its first ISC Excellence Awards, which recognized both individual employees and entire production plant teams for displaying resilience and agility in helping to fulfill URC’s corporate purpose “to delight everyone with good food choices.” Specially designed ISC Monolith Award trophies were presented to those who excelled in quality, safety, productivity, cost-efficiency, and best practices, among other categories.
Held on March 24, 2023, at the Glass Garden events space in Pasig, the affair kicked off with an inspirational message by Jesselyn Panis, vice president and head of ISC. Referring to the multiple challenges faced by the department, she quoted William Arthur Ward, who observed, “Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.” As this relates to ISC, Panis noted that despite the many challenges, the division (in 2022 and so far in 2023) has already broken company records in various metrics.
The Top 5 Outstanding ISC Employees for 2022, namely Jomar C. Ate of Biñan Plant, Jesus Q. Sebastian and Catherine Joy S. Jaochico of Bagumbayan Plant, Anna Clarinse B. Borjal of San Pedro 2 Plant, and Felipe C. Bendicio of Bagong Ilog Plant, pose with their ISC Monolith trophies flanked by colleagues and executives from the Integrated Supply Chain.
URC President and CEO Irwin C. Lee also took note of this in his brief remarks, mentioning how the ISC team had major strides “in customer service orientation, in overall equipment efficiency improvements, in delivering close to PHP 1.4 billion in savings, sustainable water and energy usage improvements, and most importantly, in your continuous capability in building with the ISC Excellence program.” Lee also mentioned the key role of URC’s ongoing “Agile at Scale” initiative in contributing towards the achievements being recognized at the ISC Excellence Awards.
With the ISC Excellence Awards taking place not long after this year’s Academy Awards, URC’s President and CEO referenced the Best Picture winner in describing the actions of the ISC team. “The integrated supply chain is long, complex, and hard, from planning, procurement, and manufacturing to engineering, logistics, and other disciplines, so going through a systems transition this year must have felt like moving across a different universe, and stepping up your powers and capabilities must have been like drawing new powers from different multi-verses. That is who you are in ISC: Heroes saving the URC world, doing everything, everywhere all at once. Thank you for all that you do.”
In congratulating the ISC team for reaching 82.6% in overall plant efficiency and helping URC's Branded Consumre Foods Group achieve net revenues of P73.6 billion in 2022, JG Summit President and CEO Lance Y. Gokongwei, who also sits as URC Chairman, commended all ISC employees for “reaching the highest levels of excellence.” He then lauded the ISC leaders for “their support in enabling them to reach the peak of their performance.”
Because of the ISC’s drive to increase operational efficiency, maximize resources, and implement cost-saving measures, end consumers reaped the benefits; despite the rising costs of goods and other production expenses, URC’s high-quality products continue to be readily available on store shelves and, as always, impart excellent value for money.
Concluding the event, Shanie Ann S. Kawpeng, URC Managing Director for Snacks and ISC Officer-in-Charge, praised the entire ISC team for their can-do mindset, their collaborative ways of working, and their openness to embrace change. She added, “We are a critical partner and contributor to URC, and we deliver true to our commitment.”
Congratulations to all winners at the 1st ISC Excellence Awards!
Best Line in Snacks - Piattos Line of ESMO Plant
Best Line in Bakery - Pretzel Line of Cavite Plant
Best Line in Confectionery - Nips Line of Bagong Plant
Best Line in Noodles - Noodle Line 3 of NUR Cavite Plant
Best Line in Powdered Beverage - Coffee Mixes Twin Pack Line 1 of San Pedro 1 Plant
Best Line in Ready-to-Drink Beverage - C2 Line 2 of Calamba 1 Plant
Best Plant in Quality - San Pablo Plant
Best Plant in Safety - Cebu 2 Plant
Best Plant in Productivity - San Pedro 1 Plant
Best Plant in Cost Efficiency - ESMO Plant
Best Practice of the Year - Project: "PRL Hydraulic System Improvement" by Roller Coaster Booster of Bagumbayan Plant
Warehouse of the Year - Cebu 1 Warehouse
Top 5 Outstanding ISC Employees - Jesus Q. Sebastian of Bagumbayan Plant
Catherine Joy S. Jaochico of Bagumbayan Plant
Felipe C. Bendicio of Bagong Ilog Plant
Anna Clarinse B. Borjal of San Pedro 2 Plant
Jomar C. Ate of Biñan Plant
Plant of the Year - San Pablo Plant
Category Platform of the Year - Snacks Category
For more information on URC, visit urc.com.ph
