Cash Forecasting & Working Capital Made Easy

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics
Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Data Management Platforms

Applicable Industries

Consumer Goods

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
System Integration

The Challenge

Unilever faced significant challenges in their global cash forecasting workflows due to the complexity of their business environment. The existing process was cumbersome, slow, and involved a lot of manual work, leading to inconsistent and inaccurate forecasts. The company needed a solution to aggregate and analyze data from various sources, including banks and ERP systems, in an automated way. They aimed to achieve centralized cash flow forecasting, clear workflows, cost savings, better visibility to cash balances, and continuous improvement of forecast accuracy. Additionally, Unilever wanted a future-proof solution that was easy to implement, scalable, and provided a broad range of connectivity options.

About The Customer

Unilever is one of the world's largest consumer goods companies, operating globally with over 400 brands available in more than 190 countries. The company generates an annual turnover of around 52 billion Euros. Due to its extensive and complex business environment, Unilever's treasury's cash forecasting workflows are challenging to execute. The company requires crucial data from a range of different sources and systems, from hundreds of entities worldwide, and from more than 200 banks and over two thousand accounts. Unilever's superior credit rating allows it to borrow easily and relatively cheaply, which has historically reduced the focus on optimizing cash forecasting processes.

The Solution

Unilever implemented TIS's cash forecasting tool to address their challenges. The solution provided centralized cash flow forecasting, clear workflows, and better visibility to cash balances. TIS's platform aggregated and analyzed data from various sources, including banks and ERP systems, in an automated way. The implementation was quick and easy, with minimal involvement from Unilever's internal IT team. TIS's efficient workflow management, flexible and layered cash forecasting models, and diverse drill-down functionalities enabled Unilever to gain insights and create robust and reliable forecasts. The solution also offered advanced working capital insights and analytics, efficient collaboration and workflow management, and seamless integration with banks and back-office platforms.

Operational Impact

Unilever standardized many of their disparate processes to obtain quality data for their cash forecast from various sources and global entities.
The company now benefits from near-real-time analysis on payments, invoicing, and vendor behavior and trends within their cash operations.
TIS's efficient workflow management and flexible cash forecasting models cover the whole spectrum needed by Unilever to quickly gain insights and create reliable forecasts.

Quantitative Benefit

Forecast accuracy improved from 50% to 80% in most categories at the three-month time horizon.
Forecast variance for some categories is now measured at less than 10% looking out at the one-month horizon.
Hundreds of thousands in cash savings achieved.