Sands China receives Technology Excellence Award for Cloud – Hospitality & Leisure

To provide exceptional service, Sands China launched its Procure-to-Pay system, which enables paperless business processes throughout the organisation.

Enterprises that have boldly undertaken technological innovation to ensure high-quality service were honoured at the recent Hong Kong Business Technology Excellence Awards (TEA). This awards programme, which is in its inaugural year, recognises the industry contributions of efficient companies and presents them to the public as examples of the successful integration of business and technology. Sands China Ltd. (SCL) received a trophy for its Procure-to-Pay System (P2P) project, which resulted in streamlined processes for the convenience of the leisure giant’s customers.

The P2P system development started in 2016 with the objective of providing superior products and services to SCL’s guests. Through this technological upgrade, the company’s payment settlement, e-sourcing, and other abilities improved significantly. The P2P system was deployed in the Zhuhai and Las Vegas offices in 2018. With this system, paperless processes became easy to monitor in real time, inventory management became cost-effective, and dynamic analytical reporting was guaranteed. These achievements were due to the adoption of the Ariba and HighJump cloud-based interfaced systems. The Ariba platform offered an auditable sourcing process, e-contract approval workflows, and online tracking of payments and remittances. The HighJump warehouse system allowed dock booking via the Internet, auto queuing by scanning of booking forms, tablet-based recording of goods, and automated receipt generation.

The measurable results were the following: (1) effective interaction with suppliers, in which over 90% of online purchase orders were acknowledged promptly; (2) efficient payment process, where 98% of e-invoices over a year were automatically matched to contracts, thus reducing costs and employee time spent on tedious tasks; (3) an equal-opportunity purchasing environment, where suppliers receive fair treatment via an e-sourcing module for requests for information, request for quotations, and transparent e-auctions; (4) reduced lead time in purchasing process, where buyers could set up pre-sourced catalogue items to facilitate purchase transactions; (5) straightforward and eco-friendly internal operations, which were simplified to a two-step paperless process; (6) digitised warehouse and inventory management by using personal digital assistants, tablets, and barcoding devices, which minimised human error; (7) lower warehouse inventory holdings, which dropped to 9.1% in 2018 from the previous year; and (8) comprehensive analytical reports, which tracked about 200% of expenses and enabled management analysis.

SCL is an industry leader in the development and operation of multi-use integrated resorts and casinos in Macau. Some of its properties include The Venetian Macau, The Parisian Macau, Sands Cotai Central, the Cotai Expo convention and exhibition hall, and several theatres with a capacity of more than 1,000 seats. Nearly 13,000 hotel rooms and 150 F&B outlets are covered by SCL’s properties. In the conglomerate’s retail malls, more than 850 shops selling world-renowned brands can be found.

By leveraging the advantages of cloud technology, SCL’s internal departments are able to connect with external suppliers along the P2P chain in a trouble-free way regardless of time and distance. The positive results of this efficient interaction translate into excellent service for customers who seek superior hospitality and leisure services.

The Technology Excellence Awards 2019, presented by Hong Kong Business, was held on February 27, 2019 at the Conrad Hong Kong.

This year's nominations were judged by a panel consisting of Bong Chan, Southern Region Leader, China TMT Industry, Deloitte China; Jason Yau, Partner, Technology and Management Consulting RSM Hong Kong; Douglas Kwan, Partner, Assurance and Advisory Services, ShineWing (HK) CPA Limited; John Poon, Head of Accounting and Outsourcing Solutions, Mazars Hong Kong; and Jonathan Chu, Partner, Stephenson Harwood.

If you would like to join the 2020 awards and be awarded as one of the technology companies with pioneering and ground-breaking IT products and solutions or companies from across different industries with the most innovative technology initiatives that made an impact on their business, please email Julie Anne Nunez (julie@charltonmediamail.com).