Chaye Cabal-Revilla (MPIC)
Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) has become the first organisation in the Philippines to deploy Rise with SAP on Amazon Web Services (AWS), forming part of a wider business transformation underpinned by cloud and digital technologies.
The Makati-based company has moved to “consolidate, modernise and standardise” core enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems on a single platform via an as-a-service business model.
Powered by SAP S/4 HANA, the move is designed to allow MPIC to streamline operations across multiple subsidiaries while gaining insights into “end-to-end performance” and simplifying accounting, financial, treasury and risk management processes.
“Our commitment to contribute to national progress and improve the quality of lives in the communities we serve is anchored on the strength of our various operating companies,” said Chaye Cabal-Revilla, chief officer of Finance, Risk and Sustainability at MPIC.
“Dealing with several business models has resulted in a disconnect across our ERP applications and non-standardised operational processes in our organisation, thereby leading to a lack of visibility into real-time data and insights. This also made our decision-making reactive amidst a dynamic market situation.”
Founded in 2006, MPIC goes to market as a provider of water, sanitation and sewerage services across the Philippines, with subsidiaries spanning utilities, power and transport, logistics, healthcare and education sectors.
With such an extensive portfolio of companies, Cabal-Revilla said the business faced “disparate” financial reporting systems among its subsidiaries, challenged further by inconsistent data sets, complex closing cycles and a high-volume of manual processes.
In partnering with SAP, Cabal-Revilla said plans are also underway to enhance data-driven decision-making with analytics, supported by new digital business models post-pandemic.
“Transformation is dynamic and not static,” Cabal-Revilla added. “Businesses must be able to change since the quest and journey to transform never ends. As long as there is an opportunity for improvement, there will always be a case for business transformation. We need to accept transformation as something necessary for businesses and sustainability.”
As outlined by Edler Panlilio -- managing director of the Philippines at SAP -- the deployment has allowed MPIC a “distinct first mover advantage” in achieving widespread business transformation.
“MPIC continues to redefine long term value creation for its shareholders, while keeping its focus on its commitment to help Filipinos by embracing technology as a critical enabler,” Panlilio noted.
“MPIC will also gain access to suppliers, asset intelligence, and logistics trading partners for business collaboration while building resiliency against disruptions and optimising operations, predicting needs, and enabling proactive responses as they accelerate growth and scale for the digital future.”
Meeting sustainability objectives
As explained by Cabal-Revilla, MPIC is also committed to contributing to the achievement of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), with UN SDG 9 -- which seeks to ‘build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and foster innovation’ -- as its anchor objective.
“MPIC has always been committed to elevating its sustainability initiatives across the group,” she added. “We have put sustainability at the heart of MPIC, and it is evident in how we design, build, and operate our business with minimal social and ecological disruption. We believe that RISE with SAP will help us improve our operations and augment our sustainability initiatives.”
In addition, Panlilio outlined that companies across the Philippines “cannot manage what they cannot measure” and to help MPIC achieve its goals, SAP aims to embed sustainability into core business processes.
“It is critical for organisations to be able to accurately capture, monitor, and then optimise the sustainability drivers in key business processes enabled by a strong digital core,” he said. “Businesses need to focus on being purpose driven and impact more than just the top and bottom line but also the green line.”
