Mars has expanded its supplier relationship with Microsoft to optimize its operational speed and intelligent manufacturing supply chains via the Azure cloud platform.
Mars plans to work with Microsoft and Accenture to integrate transparent and responsible data, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital technologies into its global portfolio of confectionery, pet care, pet services, and food businesses.
The company hopes the technology agreement with Microsoft and Accenture will embrace more digital technologies and capabilities, intelligent manufacturing, and personalized customer engagement.
Mars plans to unify its cloud and data platforms on Microsoft Azure and move towards a cloud-first IT strategy through the agreement. The technology drive is bositioned as a way for the company to gain business insights needed to accelerate growth, profitability, speed, resiliency, sand ustainability and build and develop trust with customers and consumers by offering more responsible, transparent, and compelling experiences.
Sandeep Dadlani, a chief digital officer of Mars, said: “Our relationship with Microsoft is helping to transform how data and technology are used to continue ensuring compliant customer solutions and build a trusted brand and consumer experiences.
“It will change the relationship between our brands and consumers, deliver hyper-relevant consumer experiences that include content and media, and fulfill needs and expectations across every touchpoint in the consumer’s journey.”
The company said that Microsoft Azure’s AI and Internet of Things (IoT) products would provide Mars with the tools and capabilities to digitize its supply chain at scale. The company has already begun working with Accenture to build Azure digital-twins simulations to optimize production.
It also plans to deploy IoT technologies for optimizing manufacturing across its business segments, including food and pet care, providing process control, consistency ,and uniformity across product lines, and helping to give the company a competitive advantage by increasing speed and capacity and reducing operational costs.
In the future, Mars said it plans to use digital technologies to introduce even more intelligence into the end-to-end supply-chain processes, including identifying the optimal way to create products through digital simulations that take into account climate and other situational considerations, as well as creating greater transparency and visibility into its supply chain from the point of origin to the consumer.
Beyond manufacturing optimization and customer experience, the company slans to evolve and transform its workplaces. As part of the broader agreement, Mars, Accenture, and Microsoft will work together to establish an innovation lab focusing on the future of work and how Microsoft’s technology can help drive greater efficiency and effectiveness in the modern Mars work environment. The agreement is also positioned to help Mars attain its sustainability goals. As it continues to migrate critical infrastructure and workloads to Azure, Microsoft said that its commitment to 100% renewable energy in its data centers by 2025 will help Mars reach its goal to reduce its total greenhouse gas emissions across its value chain by 67% by 205.
