ThaiBev launches business rehab plan
Thai Beverage, the leading beer and spirits producer, has launched a rehabilitation plan for its business, which has suffered several billions of baht's worth of damage during the devastating floods.
The company has set up three committees to be in charge of restoring the business in key areas: business continuity; internal and external flood-relief activities; and medium- to long-term business recovery, which will take from six months to a year.
ThaiBev president and CEO Thapana Sirivadhanabhakdi yesterday said the first panel would look at business continuity throughout the supply chain, including cooperation with major suppliers, such as bottle and cap producers, in adjusting business procedures to tackle the flood crisis together.
The flood-relief committee, meanwhile, will cover both internal and external relief activities, including assistance packages to ThaiBev staff and people in the community.
The third committee will lay down medium- to long-term recovery measures, including helping the company’s sales agents as well as communities in flooded areas, and the setting up of “big cleaning” days for its flooded factories. These recovery measures will be followed through immediately after the flooding is over.
Thapana said ThaiBev had been seriously affected by the floods, which have resulted in major damage to tangible assets, as well as loss of business continuity and new business opportunities, including exports.
“The flooding has, however, encouraged us to really look at ourselves from the beginning,” he added.
The company chief said the flood that hit Nava Nakhon Industrial Estate in the middle of last month is expected to have caused about Bt2.3 billion of damage to its Oishi plant, as the flood water has destroyed the bottling facility on the first floor.
The plant is expected to take another four to six months before it can be restored to normal operations.
In addition, ThaiBev’s two beer and drinking-water factories, at Bang Ban and Wang Noi in Ayutthaya, have been blocked by the flood water and transportation to and from the facilities has been completely cut.
Thapana said the lead time for distributing beverage products from its plants in Ayutthaya to Bangkok had increased from two-and-a-half hours on average to between six and eight hours due to the floods.
Distribution from its Kamphaeng Phet factory takes even longer, increasing from six-and-a-half hours to 10 hours.
“We have joined with our modern-trade retailers, such as 7-Eleven, in distributing our products directly to their logistics hubs,” said Thapana.
The company has also moved its sales and logistics sites from Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road and Lak Si to Chon Buri in order to avoid any flood impact.
He said both beverage factories in Bang Ban and Wang Noi would be back to normal operations within a month.
“Thousands of our workers have been affected by the floods. However, we have no policy to lay off any staff but will allow them to serve the needs of their family and community,” he said.
He added that the flooding would seriously impact the company’s sales performance in the current quarter.
Meanwhile, ThaiBev yesterday launched a temporary mobile unit to sell Chang drinking water to local communities in Bangkok and the suburbs. The unit will move to different locations every day until November 17.
About 1.08 million bottles of water are expected to be sold during the nine-day period, and all money raised will be donated to the Chaipattana Foundation for assistance to flood victims.
