**Dallas**: Arca Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages is innovating with advanced digital capabilities, including AI and machine learning, to streamline operations and enhance customer interactions while maintaining a focus on sustainability through improved resource management and smart recycling initiatives.
Arca Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages (CCSWB), headquartered in Dallas, is leveraging innovative technology to enhance its operations and streamline its interactions with customers. The company serves approximately 31 million individuals across Texas and parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas, and New Mexico. Chief Information Officer Simon Parkinson articulated the company’s strategy, stating, “We are a people-driven digital bottler. We’re not using technology for the sake of it, but to improve the work of our associates. If we digitally support each and every one of our associates in their work, that will benefit our customers.”
Owned by Arca Continental based in Monterrey, Mexico, CCSWB is committed to investing in advanced digital capabilities, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), to support its workforce and improve customer satisfaction while also reducing its environmental footprint. Parkinson emphasised the importance of technology not only for operational efficiencies but also for the associates, reiterating, “Our goal is to provide our associates with differentiated technology solutions that will enable them to perform to the highest standards in their roles, in the marketplace and with our customers.”
One significant initiative undertaken by CCSWB is the recent upgrade of its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to a more efficient in-memory solution. This upgrade is expected to enhance performance through improved analytics and reporting, alongside advanced AI and machine learning functionalities. The ERP system serves as a central hub, integrating various software applications that manage the company’s daily operations and provide timely data.
The company is also implementing machine learning to enhance its promotional strategies at leading grocery stores, and recently introduced a digital twin of its supply chain. This digital representation aids supply planners by optimising the distribution of finished products across a network comprising five production centres and 37 distribution centres. Parkinson noted, “It helps our supply planners every day to look at product movements and make the best decision possible about moving product from point A to point B. It enables us to have the right product in the right place at the right time.”
CCSWB is concurrently focusing on sustainability, using technology to monitor and reduce energy and water consumption while promoting plastic recycling. Advanced digital metering technology has been implemented in their manufacturing facilities to track resource usage in real time. “This enables us to see in near real time how we are consuming water and energy within the site through different production lines and different machinery,” Parkinson explained, highlighting the nuanced insights gained from understanding consumption patterns.
To further its sustainability mission, CCSWB has also deployed smart recycling bins in the communities it serves, including 21 bins at the American Airlines Center since 2023, aimed at increasing the recovery of plastic bottles.
As part of CCSWB’s digital transformation strategy, the company is in the process of integrating its information technology and operational technology networks to form an “internet of things” (IoT) hub across its plants. This initiative aims at minimising unplanned downtimes and ensuring product availability for customers. Parkinson noted that utilising data insights from machinery and equipment, the company is laying the groundwork for an AI predictive maintenance solution to further enhance operational reliability.
In terms of customer engagement, CCSWB plans to launch an upgraded version of MyCoke.com, a digital platform tailored for smaller retailers that facilitates round-the-clock order placements and invoicing. Parkinson referred to this enhancement as “MyCoke 360,” which will feature sophisticated algorithms to better assist customers in their ordering needs. “We see it as a growth engine to recruit more customers onto the platform,” he stated, reaffirming the commitment to serve a diverse clientele, including independent store owners.
Moreover, the company is refining the mobile automated tools of its frontline salesforce, with Parkinson suggesting that “a lot more capabilities” are anticipated in the near future. He concluded by reiterating the overarching aim of these technological advancements: “We are constantly thinking about how we drive digital innovation to empower our workforce to do their jobs well, while giving our customers the best service.”
Arca Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages continues to evolve within a context of technological enhancement, highlighting how supplier relationship management amidst digital transformation is integral to its growth in the competitive beverage market.
Source: Noah Wire Services
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