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Client team

  • Mobile Equipment container handling division of a global corporation, with complex and wide-spread operations across Asia Pacific, the Americas and Africa/Middle East.
  • A team with client experience and capable of operating across all geographies to develop and implement new global processes.

Project aims

  • Investigate why global equipment sales from the principal country were not getting paid, even though documentary payment methods were extensively used.
  • Prepare and implement a solution that could operate across countries where SAP had not been established, incorporating collection and dispute processes and receivables reduction.

What we did - our role and activities

    Role

    • Established that root causes for performance were due to organisational gaps in accountability, a lack of consistent practice, systems communications issues and measurement to track source errors and manage advance payments.

    Activities and Deliverables

    • Confirmed that an alternative CRM system, Salesforce, could fill gaps in communication around receivables. Developed and designed new functionality with internal team.
    • Identified, confirmed and agreed new responsibilities for each stage of the end to end process between operations, production, shipping and finance. Completed awareness training and developed reporting to reflect roles and responsibilities.
    • Alongside system and process development, completed a debtor reduction programme to establish a reduction in old overdue debt, regular focus on disputed issues and a structured approach to collection based on value and cash flow.
    • Established a global approach to terms for documentary payments to reduce delay and presentation for payment issues.
    • Developed and introduced comprehensive training, procedures and reporting guides across the business.

Successes

  • Complete introduction of best practice order to cash processes, communicated across the extended organisation, using Salesforce to provide customer account visibility, reporting and dispute handling.
  • Total overdue debt down to 20% from 60%. Overdue old debtors reduced by 50% and issues to resolve balance identified.
  • Roles and responsibilities across revised processes established, with regular reporting, to eliminate future issues.