Why AB InBev’s Supply Chain Overhaul Is Focused on Touchless Planning

AB InBev includes such brands as Budweiser, Corona Extra, Michelob Ultra, and Stella Artois.

Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) has been on a supply chain transformation journey that spans more than five years. Elito Siqueira, its global SVP of supply chain planning, said during the recent Aim10x Digital 2025 virtual event that the ultimate goal has been to reduce complexity.

Following a series of M&As that integrated several global systems across Africa, Asia, and the Americas, AB InBev faced an ecosystem that was much larger and more complex than it used to be. It now includes more than 270 plants, breweries, and virtual operations; more than 600 distribution centers; and more than 500 brands.

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And so the company sought out solutions to simplify processes. It required thinking differently about how to connect day-to-day operations in terms of integration and orchestration, said Siqueira. It led to creating new benchmarks, improving not just technology but ensuring people and process were at the right levels.

“One of the pillars that was definitely important for us to make a change in was the planning side,” he said. 

While AB InBev did bring in software from o9 Solutions — focusing on demand, supply network, and materials planning — it also put in a lot of effort to train its employees and reinforce the quality of execution so the company could extract results from the technology overhaul. Over the last five years, pilots have been implemented in about 10 countries the company operates in, representing close to 75% of its volume. The goal is to reach 85% by end of year, said Siqueira.