Primaflor: "Digital transformation is a change in business culture"

The company assumes that using data to make more effective and accurate decisions is an investment, not an expense.

During a round table, on digital transformation in the agricultural sector organized by SEIDOR and SAP, Primaflor's corporate director Cecilio Peregrin, an agri-food company, has mentioned that over a four years ago they decided to take the step towards digital transformation, an improvement process that, as he pointed out, should be considered an investment and not an expense. The firm has participated this morning in the round table on digital transformation in the agricultural sector, organized by SAP-Seidor, in which the importance of data management to make more precise decisions and improve efficiency has been recorded.

Alejandro Sánchez, Director of Information and Communication Technologies and Digital Transformation at Primaflor, mentions: “Digital transformation is not technology, although it is supported by it; it is a business cultural change and a new way of doing business”. He explains that it is an environment in which the company must adapt quickly and agilely to new realities, embrace uncertainty and innovate to provide value proposals, generate synergies between the different resources and adapt to the decisions. Due to the high degree of competitiveness, productivity, quality requirements, traceability, etc., according to Sánchez, knowledge and experience of the sector are no longer enough and support in digitized data is required. This will make it easier to make decisions, know the customer and save costs.

The person in charge of this digital transformation at Primaflor points out that when transformation begins, a series of measures must be taken to avoid having a "risk of fail" , thus defining priorities, sharing the vision and involving the management of the company in communication ”. Sánchez describes that 88% of managers believe that the lack of budget slows down the digital transformation, in this sense, he explains that the main thing is to limit and prioritize starting with initiatives that provide more value; insisting on cultural change, the area director emphasizes the collaboration and involvement of all areas and continuous training. During the transformation process, Sánchez explains how Primaflor carried out an audit to discover the Gaps, from there, generate skills to have a preventive service. In the same way, he highlights that having technological experts who have an experience and accompany the transformation is decisive. The combination of talent and technology is another key, which is why Sánchez insists on retaining and attracting talent and on training them by providing them with the right tools.

Primaflor embraced SAP S4/HANA software because of its ability to solve most of the risks inherited from corporate solutions and because of the opportunities it offers in different areas. According to Sánchez's words, the results are already substantial; first, highlighting the cultural change in the company and, in the digital sphere, "we see weekly changes in all business areas. Sánchez adds that, currently, this process is more focused on the production part although it started in the financial field.