PTT GC collaborates with OutSystems to leverage high-performance low-code technology

PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited or GC, a leader in Thailand’s chemical industry, has continuously moved forward with its digital transformation initiative. Recently, the company has partnered with OutSystems to leverage high-performance low-code technology to develop applications and create digital systems, empowering its business to become smarter and more competitive, allowing it to achieve its sustainability goals in the long run.

Since 2018, the company has planned and prepared for digital transformation by focusing on upgrading and transforming three pillars of the organization – business, technology, and people. This is known internally as Triple Transformation, an initiative where GC focuses on empowering employees as the key to driving the organization, with a dedicated digital transformation team set up to create solutions for fixing pain points. 

Today, Thai companies are facing many costs in operating their businesses. And in the midst of digital disruption, IT teams play a vital role in helping organizations attain their business goals. GC deployed a low-code platform through OutSystems as a way to digitize its business processes, develop applications to relieve pain points, improve efficiency and modernize its operations.

GC adopted the high-performance low-code technology from OutSystems to upgrade its services and has been working with the platform since May 2019. Recently, the team has developed critical systems in the B-Leap Project to expand research and development (R&D) of chemical products. With these systems in place, the work process has been improved while researchers' work time has been reduced by 30 % and costs associated with redundant research have been lowered by up to 75 %. In addition, OutSystems platform has been used to develop a Smart Loading Application to be used as a digital system to queue tanker trucks from refineries and to deal with various companies in real time. Since its launch in 2021, the application has helped reduce the work time of the central team at the distillery by up to 12.5 % and lessened failures due to human errors by 10 %.  

The company focused on three core components in the implementation & operation process. Firstly, for Tech Foundation, OutSystems provided data platforms and technology tools, considered the use of the 5G network, and conducted pilot trials for digital projects. Secondly, for Project Implementation, OutSystems worked with representatives from each business unit (BU) within GC to study pain points, come up with ideas and create innovative solutions that meet business needs. And lastly, the most important component is Organization Capability Building & Communication. GC focused on improving the development team's capabilities and enhancing communication with other teams. This allowed  GC to develop and launch various products to the market more quickly and successfully. 

Mr. Nattapol Jongjaroonkiat, Head of Digital Transformation of GC, said “In terms of GC’s future digital goals, we aim to become a more distributed enterprise and build our own domain experts in each business unit. They can work with the central IT team and implement solutions or technologies to improve their business efficiently. OutSystems low-code technology is an important platform that will enhance our development efforts. Because at GC, we believe that our people are the most important driving force that will help us become a sustainable organization in the future.”

“In addition, by adopting OutSystems low-code technology, GC was able to develop more than 18 new apps in just 2.5 years, and improve or digitize various processes for over PTT GC Group companies. This reflects the importance of OutSystems low-code platform as a trusted assistant for both developers and businesses,” concluded Mr. Nattapol 

OutSystems was recently mentioned in the latest study (‘Total Economic Impact™ of OutSystems’ ) from Forrester Consulting, which found that the low-code platform contributed to significant cost savings to organizations when comparing the time and expense of creating and maintaining internal custom software development versus deploying the OutSystems platform. The study cited how OutSystems enabled over $6.7 million in incremental cost savings for enterprises from improved operational efficiency, due to shorter project development durations and faster launch times.

Mr.Termsak Virakachornpong, Regional Vice President Southeast Asia, OutSystems said “We are delighted to be a key driver in GC's digital transformation efforts. This partnership highlights how the high-performance low-code technology from OutSystems is more than just a developer platform, it can also lead to service design innovation and reduction in business pain points.”