DIALOGUE: AB InBev’s Award-Winning Dream
Multiple ML award winner AB InBev is harnessing the power of technology to create a future with more cheers, says Global VP Marcelo Ribeiro.
“Manufacturing needs to create an ecosystem for the future where we can all learn from each other.”
Marcelo Ribeiro, Global Vice President, Engineering and Operations, AB InBev.
Anheuser Busch InBev (AB InBev), the world’s leading brewer, swept the boards at the recent 2022 Manufacturing Leadership Awards Gala with three individual Project awards, three High Achiever awards, and the ultimate accolade of the 2022 Manufacturer of the Year-Large Enterprise award.
AB InBev was formed in 2008 by the merger of Belgian/Brazilian brewing company InBev and US-based Anheuser-Busch, later adding South African company SABMiller in 2016. It now produces around 500+ local beer brands available worldwide, with revenues of more than $54 billion in 2021, and is supported by 169,000 employees in over 50 countries.
In our latest Dialogue with a manufacturing industry thought leader, AB InBev’s Global Vice President of Engineering and Operations, Marcelo Ribeiro, talks to Manufacturing Leadership Council Executive Editor Paul Tate about harnessing advanced digital tools to empower front line teams, making data accessible to help solve key business problems and drive new ideas, and creating an industrial ecosystem to drive resiliency and sustainability in the years ahead.
Q: What’s the scope of your role as Global Vice President at AB InBev?
A: It’s really a dual role. One is to define our strategy, including Manufacturing 4.0 priorities, in both operations and engineering so we have a unified approach across all our regions – from glass bottles and cans, to labels, malt, and beers. The other is to identify best practices and what works best, and then to make sure that we incorporate those best practices into the overall management system with ensuring they are successfully shared across all our markets.
Our goal is to bring all of our operations to a level of world class performance and achieve operational excellence by addressing both the challenges of today, and to prepare ourselves for the future. And that future is coming at us more rapidly than it used to, so we need to harness the potential of those new 4.0 technologies through continuous improvement and try to bring that future into the present. The key focus there is to ensure we have the skills and the empowered autonomous front-line teams to do that, because it’s those front-line teams who will ultimately drive the success of the company into the future with sustainable and reliable operations.
EXECUTIVE PROFILE: Marcelo Ribeiro
Title: Global Vice President, Engineering and Operations, Anheuser-Busch InBev
Nationality: Brazilian
Education: BSc Mechanical Engineering, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil; MBA, Universidade Luterana do
Brasil-Canoas RS, Brazil; Accelerated Leadership, INSEAD, Paris, France.
Languages: Portuguese, English, German, Spanish
Previous Roles Include:
– Global Vice President, Engineering, Anheuser-Busch InBev
– Zone Brewery Support, North America Region, Anheuser-Busch InBev
– Global Packaging Director, Anheuser-Busch InBev
– APAC Zone Brewery Support, Anheuser-Busch InBev
– People Supply Director – Canada, Anheuser-Busch InBev
– VPO Implementation Manager, Montreal & London, Anheuser-Busch InBev
– Plant Manager – AmBev
– Corporate Manager, Manufacturing Projects Leader, AmBev,
– Project Manager, Fichtner Consulting Engineers
Other Industry Roles/Awards/Board Memberships
– 2022 Manufacturer of the Year – Large Enterprise, Manufacturing Leadership Awards MLC/NAM
About the author:
Paul Tate is Co-founding Executive Editor and Senior Content Director of the NAM’s. Manufacturing Leadership Council.
