Nimbler Nestle expects recent changes to keep it percolating
Campbell: The world is changing very quickly and Nestle Group Thailand would like to move ahead in a fast-changing environment.
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Nestle Group Thailand yesterday said it had reinvented itself as a company of the 21st century.
The company recently finished decentralising its organisational structure into individual business units. The move is part of Nestle's Global Business Excellence programme, a group-wide initiative at Swiss-based Nestle, which aims to instil best practices in all facets of its operation. The changes aim to empower and energise people while fostering teamwork, a passion for a great performance, and leadership. It also aims to make employees more proactive and productivity focused. Graham Campbell, chairman and chief executive of Nestle Group Thailand, said the changes were a high priority as the group tries to nimbly respond to the winds of changes in the local business environment, consumer lifestyles and expectations and technological innovations. The group will continue to maintain its brand-leadership positions in the coffee, non-dairy creamer, infant formula and children's milk products and canned liquid milk sectors. "Whilst we continue to enjoy strong growth and value creation, we must always look at ourselves critically, and prepare for the future," he said. Nestle made the structural changes to focus better on individual business units like its ice-cream division, Nescafe, Milo and others specialising in pet care, water and breakfast cereals. The group has also established a Nestle nutrition business. He said the group had developed service units in human resource development and supply-chain management to support its business enterprises. "The world is changing very quickly and we [Nestle Group Thailand] would like to move ahead in a fast-changing environment," said Campbell during a media event yesterday. He said Nestle, as a 21st-century organisation, would be more open and transparent, with reduced complexity and more creativity. Both the personnel and management at Nestle Group Thailand will be reorganised. As part of the changes, the group recently moved into its new head office to Central World. According to Campbell, Nestle Group of Thailand, which sells in the Thai and Indochina markets, which consist of Laos, Burma, Cambodia and Vietnam, took in Bt38 billion in sales last year, up 8.4 per cent over 2004. Nestle's domestic sales in Thailand reached Bt27 billion last year and exports brought in Bt8 billion. The rest were from other markets in Indochina. Campbell said Thailand was the third-largest exporter within the Nestle Group, mainly of its liquid milk and CoffeeMate products, which are sent all over Southeast Asia and beyond. In Thailand, coffee, chocolate, milk, beverages, infant formula and children's milk products, and canned liquid milk accounted for most of the growth. Nestle's ice cream sales have been growing for three consecutive years at around 30 per cent annually. He said the group expected its growth to be between 6 per cent and 7 per cent this year. It wants the leadership spot in the Thai ice-cream market by the end of this year. "The Thai economy continues to perform quite well and we are confident we can achieve our target," said Campbell. He added that to battle higher production expenses, the company would do whatever it takes to minimise price increases. Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn The Nation
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