Hyderabad: Global packaging solutions giant Sonoco Products Company is setting up its first-ever global capability centre (GCC), called Sonoco Performance Hub (SPH), in Hyderabad. The 125-year-old Fortune 500 company, with annual revenues between $7-8 billion, plans to invest up to $10 million in the first phase of this strategic initiative.
This will see it hire around 300 engineers over the next 12-18 months and 500 techies over the next three years. The facility is slated to come up near IKEA in HITEC City, with operations expected to commence by May 2024.
“Through the SPH we aim to drive operational excellence through digital services. While we’re starting with technology services focused on process automation and innovation, our vision is to expand our capabilities as a true GCC to make this a comprehensive capability centre for other business processes as well,” Rajeev Ankireddypalli, VP & CIO, Sonoco, told TOI.
Sonoco currently has a global technology team of about 700 members out of a global headcount of around 30,000, and the Hyderabad SPH will mark a significant expansion of its technology and innovation capabilities, he added. The hub will be led by a Sonoco veteran of 23 years who is relocating from Pune to Hyderabad.
He said the hub will focus on advanced technologies, including AI/ML, IoT, predictive analytics, data analytics, and cybersecurity. Apart from these skills, the company is also looking for expertise in commercial solutions like Salesforce, Oracle, Workday, and ServiceNow, along with Microsoft technologies.
“In the first phase, we’ll hire senior talent as it’s a new setup. The second phase will focus on recruiting fresh graduates from universities,” said Jochen Le Large, Senior Director, IT Business Operations & Business Technology, Sonoco. The key roles that the company is looking to hire for include process automation specialists, analytics experts, big data professionals, ML/AI engineers, cybersecurity experts, software engineers with DevOps and DevSecOps expertise, as well as commercial solutions specialists, among others, he indicated.
According to Ankireddypalli, the decision to set up the SPH in Hyderabad was “not about cost arbitrage but about leveraging talent for transformative initiatives. The digital infrastructure and exposure in India will help us enable these transformative initiatives naturally.” He said the company, which operates over 300 sites globally, sees its SPH investment as a crucial step in its next chapter of growth and digital evolution.
