Magne Setnes, Heineken: “We now do more cross-border shipments to counter disruptions”

Magne Setnes joined Dutch brewery giant Heineken 25 years ago. He just completed a PhD in artificial intelligence, long before most of us had heard of it. His task was to collect and analyze data from the company’s production sites worldwide to figure out why certain operations and machines ran better than others. Although someone had great foresight about big data, the project was cancelled almost the minute he walked in the door. At that time, the data availability was simply insufficient. That has completely changed. Today data from nearly all the company’s global manufacturing sites is collected, analyzed and shared on one platform.

Since his surprising start Magne Setnes has worked in many international positions including commercial and managerial roles. He started his latest role as Chief Supply Chain Officer, at the Heineken Global Supply Chain Head Office in Amsterdam, the same week the company closed the office due to the Covid pandemic. “It was a tough start, working in a global organization with no opportunity to meet people except through digital means. I’m glad that’s behind us although, of course, there has been even more volatility in the last four years.”

Heineken is the world’s most international brewer and largest in Europe, brewing almost 250 million hectolitres per year. In other words roughly 47,000 litres per minute. Its 300 local, regional, specialty and international brands are consumed in 190 countries. And its green bottle with the red star is instantly recognizable but in addition to the brand Heineken, the brewer produces many other well-loved local products.

With nearly 200 manufacturing sites, ranging from large international export breweries to small local specialties, Heineken has a true global footprint. Traditionally most breweries have operated locally within their countries. Today, Magne Setnes and his team are overseeing the implementation of a global operations organization. “We have elevated Sales & Operations Planning and supply chain planning from a unit and country level up to a multi-country level to leverage the capacities that we have in our large distributed network.” … … …

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