Obeikan Investment Group and GE Digital’s establishment of Obeikan Digital Solutions set to elevate F&B sector capabilities in the region

At food & beverage conference Gulf Foods, Obeikan Investment Group and GE [NYSE: GE] announced the signing of a joint agreement to establish a new digitally-focused practice within the Saudi manufacturer. The practice, named Obeikan Digital Solutions (ODS), aims to provide digital transformation services to other food & beverage industry leaders in the region. With this agreement, GE Digital will support the establishment of a roadmap for digital transformation within Obeikan. Additionally, ODS will be GE Digital’s exclusive partner in the food & beverage industry, bringing Industrial Internet of Things solutions to customers in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and across the GCC.

Digital transformation is critical to the food & beverage and consumer packaged goods industry, as productivity and efficiency continue to be key drivers of growth. Obeikan Investment Group will bring strong manufacturing and domain knowledge, as well as close relationships with customers in the sector. GE will bring first-hand knowledge and best practices to the partnership, having embarked on its own journey of digital transformation over the last several years. GE is the world’s digital industrial company, and has established itself as a transformative leader in digitization with software-defined machines and solutions powered by GE Digital’s leading applications and platform.

Eng. Abdallah Obeikan, CEO of Obeikan Investment Group said: “Obeikan Investment Group has long been an early adopter of new technology. The digital transformation revolution is upon us, and we are happy to be ambassadors bringing digitization to the wider region. We have chosen to partner with GE Digital given the success of their own digital transformation over the last several years, and the authenticity and knowledge that comes with their industrial heritage. We look forward to bringing digital solutions to the food & beverage and consumer packaged goods industry together.”

Ali Saleh, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, GE Digital Middle East, Africa & Turkey, said, “We are looking forward to the next phase of this partnership. GE Digital and Obeikan Digital Solutions are both committed to the digital transformation of the region. With GE’s digital expertise and Obeikan’s deep domain knowledge, we are uniquely positioned for success in bringing unprecedented levels of efficiency and productivity to industry.”

This announcement extends the May 2017 collaboration between Obeikan Investment Group and GE to work together to digitize two of Obeikan’s plants in Saudi Arabia, transforming them into smart factories. The partners also agreed on the potential to scale and convert the Group’s other plants across the Middle East, Africa & Europe in the future.

This digital conversion, now underway, will leverage GE Digital’s application solutions including Digital Twin, a digital replica of physical assets; Asset Performance Management (APM), allowing for more intelligent operations through predictive analytics and a complete view of assets; and ServiceMax, a cloud-based field service management (FSM) solution. These solutions are powered by Predix, GE’s application development platform for the Industrial Internet of Things.

GE has introduced its advanced digital capabilities in the Kingdom through several landmark partnerships. With a presence of over 80 years, three offices and seven facilities, Saudi Arabia accounts for the largest GE workforce in the Middle East with over 2,000 employees driving the Aviation, Digital, Healthcare, Oil & Gas, Power and Transportation businesses.