URC’s Gawad Juan Awards Laud Efforts to Level Up the Supplier Experience

In recognition of its employees’ commitment to excellence, Universal Robina Corporation held the second edition of its Gawad Juan awards program on December 17, 2021, at the Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria.  

First presented in 2020, the Gawad Juan awards stem directly from the implementation of Project Judith, a company-wide initiative to eliminate the cause of payment delays to URC’s suppliers while simultaneously promoting greater transparency, efficiency, and collaboration among the company’s plants and key stakeholders including the Treasury Department, Aspen Business Solutions, and Robinsons Bank. (To read more on Project Judith’s origins and its implementation, click here.)

“This program is held to recognize the talents who have made significant contributions to the improvement of our procure to pay processes, thus improving supplier experience,” said Alan Surposa, Senior Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer of JG Summit Holdings, URC's parent conglomerate. The awards also highlight the food and beverage manufacturing company’s values, “like discipline, passion to win, and openness to learning,” he added.

Pryncess Hyacinth Esguerra and Kurleigh Gacutan hosted the Gawad Awards Year 2 program held at the Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria on December 17, 2021. IMAGE URC

In a video message, URC Chairman Lance Y. Gokongwei said that Gawad Juan Year 2 was a “wonderful celebration of our shared purpose in relentlessly improving the experiences of our key stakeholders, particularly our partner suppliers, a wonderful celebration of our strong commitment in continuously delivering positive results on what used to be a high mountain to climb, and a wonderful celebration of our agile team spirit in creatively identifying opportunities that will add value to everything we do.”

Ariel Faraon, Procurement Governance Head of JG Summit Holdings, led the implementation of Project Judith across URC. IMAGE URC

As president and CEO of URC, Irwin C. Lee has made no secret of his desire to see URC become a “partner of choice” once again, not just for the wholesalers or retailers that stock URC’s products, but also for the suppliers who provide the company with raw materials and other manufacturing needs. He reiterated this in his message at the Gawad Juan awards ceremony.

Representatives from URC's BCFG Biñan plant, which dominated this year's Gawad Juan awards with wins in the Best Performing Plant and Best in Agility and Innovation categories, among many others, pose with JG Summit Chief Procurement Officer Alan Surposa (far left) and Digital Transformation and Corporate Services Senior Vice President Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng (far right). IMAGE URC

“At URC, we have a specific strategy of becoming the preferred partner of choice to our customers and to our suppliers. In 2021, we embarked on an agile-at-scale program to accelerate progress in many fronts. One of them is to drive a significant improvement in our suppliers’ experience with URC. Addressing payment on time issues through Project Judith is a complex task involving multiple functions and locations. The great progress we've made this year is a testament to the power of agile in action.”

The URC BCFG Canlubang team, runners-up in the Best Plant category, with Plant Manager Cholito Orillos and JGSHI's Ariel Faraon. IMAGE URC

The team behind Project Judith, a play on the words “due date,” is led by JG Summit Procurement Governance Manager Ariel Faraon. Discussing the impact of the program, Faraon proudly shared that payment on time efficacy has greatly improved since starting two years ago, generating positive feedback from URC's suppliers.

The Gawad Juan Awards acknowledged the efforts of the various teams, leaders, manufacturing plants, and service providers that made this possible.

Vice President for Corporate Services and Chief information Officer Caloi Santos (far left) with Best Scrum Master awardees Princess Crisostomo-Cendaña (BCFG San Pedro 2), Dionelle Arellano-Panopio and Jazzie Ayne G. Palino (BCFG Biñan); and Rhea S. Sangre (BCFG Calamba 1). IMAGE URC

In determining the top contributors in Project Judith’s success, the panel of judges looked at a set of criteria including the turnaround time (TAT) for goods receipts and usage decisions, the percentage of transactions that were “right first time” (RFT), being a supplier’s partner of choice based on third-quarter customer satisfaction ratings, and documented demonstrations of innovation and agility. 

The Supply Chain Financing Team was among the recipients of the Gawad Juan Partner Award (Internal) IMAGE URC

In addition, the awards recognized contributions of outside suppliers who did their part in improving supply chain efficiency and provided financing program support, as well as affiliates within the Gokongwei Group who assisted in elevating the supplier experience.

Representatives from External Partner awardee Oleo-Fats, Inc. with Robinsons Bank Chief Digital Commercial Officer Agnes Theresa Salvador and JGSHI's Ariel Faraon. IMAGE URC

Congratulations to all URC Gawad Juan award winners!

Gawad Juan Year 2 Categories and Winners

Best Performing Plant

Champion               BCFG Biñan

1st Runner-up         BCFG Canlubang

2nd Runner-up        BCFG San Pedro 2

3rd Runner-up         BCFG Calamba 1

4th Runner-up         BCFG San Pablo

Most Improved Plant          

1st Place       BCFG Calamba 1

2nd Place      BCFG San Pablo

3rd Place       BCFG San Pedro 1

4th Place       BCFG Cavite

5th Place       BCFG Pampanga 2

Best in Process Efficiency (Turnaround Time)

1st Place       BCFG Biñan

2nd Place      BCFG Canlubang

3rd Place       BCFG Bagong Ilog

4th Place       BCFG San Pedro 1

5th Place       BCFG Calamba 1

Best in Process Effectiveness (Right First Time)

1st Place       BCFG San Pablo

2nd Place      BCFG ESMO

3rd Place       BCFG Cebu 2

4th Place       BCFG San Pedro 1

5th Place       BCFG San Pedro 2

Supplier's Partner-of-Choice

1st Place       BCFG Canlubang

2nd Place      BCFG San Pedro 2

3rd Place       BCFG Bagong Ilog

4th Place       BCFG Calamba 1

5th Place       BCFG Bagumbayan

Best in Innovation & Agility

1st Place       BCFG Biñan

2nd Place      BCFG San Pedro 2

3rd Place       BCFG Calamba 1

4th Place       BCFG Canlubang

5th Place       BCFG San Pablo

Partner Award - External

Top Suppliers:  SC Brothers Packaging Corporation

                       Wincorp Enterprises

                       Quality Packaging Corporation

                       Calamba Allied Industrial Corporation

                       Oleo-Fats, Incorporated

                       Mega Masterlink Fabricator and Electrical Services

Partner Awards - Internal

Supply Chain Financing Team

Easy-CMS Mol Team

Treasury

Aspen Business Solutions

Best Logistics Team

1st Place       BCFG Biñan

2nd Place      BCFG Canlubang

3rd Place       BCFG San Pablo

4th Place       BCFG San Pedro 2

5th Place       BCFG ESMO

Best Quality Assurance Team

1st Place       BCFG Biñan

2nd Place      BCFG Canlubang

3rd Place       BCFG Calamba 1

4th Place       BCFG San Pedro 1

5th Place       BCFG Bagumbayan

Best Maintenance Team

1st Place       BCFG Bagong Ilog

2nd Place      BCFG Canlubang

3rd Place       BCFG San Pedro 2

4th Place       BCFG Calamba 1

5th Place       BCFG ESMO

Best Human Resources Team

1st Place       BCFG Biñan

2nd Place      BCFG Canlubang

3rd Place       BCFG San Pedro 1

4th Place       BCFG Bagong Ilog

5th Place       BCFG San Pablo

Best Production Team

1st Place       BCFG Biñan

2nd Place      BCFG Bagong Ilog

3rd Place       BCFG Canlubang

4th Place       BCFG Calamba 1

5th Place       BCFG San Pedro 1

Best Product Owner

1st Place       Richard V. Cabrillos (BCFG Biñan)

2nd Place      Cholito S. Orillos (BCFG Canlubang)

3rd Place       Sheila Mae A. Aying (BCFG San Pedro 2)

Best Scrum Master

1st Place       Dionelle Arellano-Panopio (BCFG Biñan) and Jazzie Ayne G. Palino (BCFG Biñan)

2nd Place      Rhea S. Sangre (BCFG Calamba 1)

3rd Place       Princess Crisostomo-Cendaña (BCFG San Pedro 2)