Our Client is a global technology and industry leader in vehicle architecture, developing safer, greener, and more connected solutions that enable the next generation of autonomous vehicles, smart cities, and connectivity. The business operates as a component part of the automotive industry supply chain.
BUSINESS CHALLENGES
The company needed to streamline the process of tracking sales revenue against customer contracts, to give Sales Management and Executives more timely access to the very latest customer contract status. Customer contracts run over several years, and single agreements are of the scale of running an entire production facility to the capacity specified in the contract. It is essential for this business to monitor actual volume versus contracted volumes, as deviating from contracted capacity impacts profitability. When a variance between capacity and actual volumes arises, penalties and contract re-negotiations are triggered, so it is critical that the Sales Team have the information they need to act in these cases. Managing this process in spreadsheets was time-consuming, prone to error, lacked data security, and needed to be more responsive to the needs of the Sales Team.
SOLUTION
Our client chose the Anaplan cloud platform as a central source for all data required to track sales volume and revenue in order to support the contract management process. The solution refreshes actual order volume, sales forecasts, external market trend data, and production capacity, to report against each commercial contract on a weekly basis. Sales are then able to review contracts, add commentary and collaborate effectively to take decisions, both internally and in client re-negotiations.
Scenario Analysis Sales use scenario analysis to flex volumes, forecasts, and pricing to support contract negotiations with clients. This ensures that the best commercially viable option is pursued in every contract and that proposed terms are backed up by reliable data, strengthening their position in contract negotiations with powerful clients.
BENEFITS
The Commercial Sales Team now has access to a single source of data and analysis for each client contract on a weekly basis. This means that they can effectively monitor and manage the profit margin of individual contracts, and in doing so, protect profitability throughout the entire life cycle of commercial contracts, despite fluctuations in actual market demand, mitigating the risks of external factors, such as disruptions to client supply chains, that affect demand for their products. Scenario analysis provides Commercial Sales with the insights they need to negotiate with powerful clients, significantly strengthening their position.
THE FUTURE
The Finance Team is planning to implement Financial Planning and Analysis, with the intention to connect Financial Statements to the very latest sales revenue and forecast information from the Contract Management System. Finance and Commercial Sales will benefit from process automation, data security, and accuracy to support continuous planning and performance management. This will help them meet their goal to enable the future of automated mobility.
“The contract management solution delivered by Profit& is key to margin management. Our Commercial Sales team no longer has to review and check data across multiple systems to track contract performance. Using Anaplan, data is reliable and all in one place. They can focus on doing their job – ensuring profitability throughout the life cycle of commercial contracts.”
