What is Los Grobo's plan to beat the rural crisis with technology: they have already put in $14 million

The Argentine countryside continues to be one of the most important productive forces in the country. Although today the sector is going through various challenges ranging from climate to tax, companies continue to commit to working in the country and, especially, to fight through innovation.

Technology already plays a key role in the future of agricultural businesses and today it is one of the tools that producers have to combat challenges - such as the climate - and continue to add value to their industry. The field is not immune to the digital transformation that almost all companies are going through across all sectors. One of the groups that has been betting the most in recent years is the group Los Grobo.

The company specializes in services for agro-industrial food production and export. Last year, according to El Cronista, it was the agricultural company with the best image in the country. To continue strengthening its position, the company began a digital transformation plan that represents a total investment of US$14 million since the project was launched in 2018.

Grupo Los Grobo has been working together with the company Paradigma Sociedad de Soluciones since 2018 in the company's digital maturity process under the name "Los Grobo 4.0". The company's investment seeks to improve four interconnected aspects: a strengthening of the brand; to enhance the innovative aspects of the company, a change in the relationship with the client where there will be more options from digital, a change in corporate mindset to incorporate technology into business management (such as commercial dashboards, performance reports, data driven culture, etc.).

«Agriculture always had technological implementation in laboratories, in the field, in how seeds and crops are treated, in collection, but the backoffice was relegated. There was a decision to make this change in the commercial and support areas, systems, it was transversal to the company «, explains Rafael Rizzo, Systems Manager at Los Grobo. «A technological change was needed in the bases, in the infrastructure, that is why we incorporated cloud and hybrid data storage. Connectivity was provided to remote places, and we began to put together the roadmap with that new infrastructure," adds Rizzo.

From Paradigma, they give an account of how this process began. «It was a foundational job to put the ERP and carry out the digital maturity analysis, that was during 2020. Los Grobo was always innovative in specific business issues and everything that has to do with planting. But we needed to understand how the rest of the company was, to have a strong interest in how the organization and the culture were in terms of digital things«, comments Carolina Paz Tormo, director of Paradigma.

Mandatory change?

The company considers that, although innovation has never been absent in the agricultural world, focusing on processes and business is a little more novel. «We sought to have a differential with respect to the competition in the market. We were average. That was the trigger we saw to start thinking about what we wanted to do with our clients. We put them in the center and developed from there," says Rizzo.

But the transformation was not optional. The corporate structure itself was pushing for a digital transformation. At Los Grobo they estimate that almost 50% of their population are digital natives who already come to the company with technological skills and who choose where to work based on the challenges and innovation that the company offers. "We have to think about the agricultural business in the next 5 years and prepare the company, both within the company and with the next clients," Rizzo acknowledges.

The change was palpable in several indicators: the company reduced the use of paper printers by 30%, electronic signature was implemented, which resulted in a reduction in time from one month per contract signing to 3 or 4 days, to which is added an automation component that, for example, helps the company know how much a contract is about to expire. Today, the company even uses artificial intelligence to make processes more efficient. For example, today the invoices that arrive from your suppliers are analyzed by artificial intelligence to identify which purchase order it belongs to and it is automatically accounted for in the ERP. In the same sense, the company is working with chatbots for the Systems help desks.

Even when hiring people, technology is being used, which the company believes catapulted them to be listed on the list of Great Places to Work.