VOLHOVETS Group of Companies, a leading Russian manufacturer of interior doors, has summed up the results of a project to automate budgeting processes based on the IBM Cognos Express system. The project was carried out with the involvement of specialists from Odyssey Consulting Group, an IBM business intelligence partner.
Implementation of the IBM Cognos Express system lasted from May to November 2012. The start of the project coincided with the formation of the Volkhovets group of companies, which included two production factories and an extensive network of sales offices. The large-scale reorganization convinced the holding's management of the need to create a new information system for budget management.
Before the formation of the Volkhovets group of companies, the budget cycle of all enterprises, whether it be a factory or a sales office, was supported by standard office applications. All information flowed into the planning and economic department of the management company "as is". The holding's management was interested in receiving and structuring the necessary information in real time, in order to thereby increase the efficiency of budget planning and speed up management decision-making. However, the lack of a unified approach to the preparation and control of the budgets of individual divisions and the various degree of detail of the provided reporting forms complicated the consolidation of data for a group of companies, not allowing to own up-to-date data on the financial condition of the organization.
The initial acquaintance of Volkhovets specialists with the capabilities of the system took place as part of a three-day training course conducted by Odyssey Consulting Group. During this time, employees of the financial department of a manufacturing company were able to try out the basic tools of IBM Cognos Express, see how reports are built on cubes, and evaluate the simplicity and convenience of the interface for their users. The solution based on the IBM Cognos Express platform fully suited the customer both in terms of functionality and cost, so the final choice was made in favor of this software product.
The project team consisted mainly of financial Department of the group of companies "Volkhovets". As part of the implementation, a new budget model of the holding was built. Thanks to the IBM & nbsp; Cognos Express tools, the unification of budget forms and financial reports in the company, the procedures for collecting and consolidating existing data have been simplified. The methodology & nbsp; and regulations for budget planning suited the management of Volkhovets Group of Companies and & nbsp; remained virtually unchanged. In addition to reducing the labor intensity of the work of financial specialists, the company has managed to eliminate the risk of errors that invariably accompany manual input and processing of information. In the process of deploying the system, the Odyssey Consulting Group consultant introduced the employees of the financial department of Volkhovets Group of Companies with the basics of information security, principles of setting up access rights and user roles in the system.
The expertise of the project team of Volkhovets Group of Companies, including the main managers and specialists of the financial department, made it possible to complete implementation of IBM Cognos Express on time. The results of the project turned out to be predictably positive and speak for themselves. Company employees prepare a budget in the context of all departments and groups in three main forms: budget of income and expenses, cash flow and balance.
system. Thanks to the use of IBM Cognos Express, the speed and quality of collecting and processing the financial indicators of the holding, which favorably affected the efficiency of the entire budget process. Planning the annual budget for the Volkhovets Group last year took about 3 months, while this year the financial department completed this task in just 3.5 weeks. The new system also allowed the holding to simplify coordination and adjustment of short-term operating budgets.
Thanks to IBM Cognos Express, the financial managers of Volkhovets Group of Companies carry out plan-fact analysis of budget execution and prepare consolidated statements for the entire group . “With the help of the Volkhovets Group of Companies system, I closed the key budgeting processes in a single cycle, got tools for calculating items in various analytical sections, by completely eliminating time-consuming manual data processing and increasing the reliability of financial information,” Alena Marchuk, project manager from Volkhovets Group, shares the results of the implementation. – “The financial department monthly generates in IBM Cognos Express management reporting on the income and expenses of the group in the context of business units, can predict possible deviations of budget indicators when changing business conditions. We are currently setting up mechanisms for the rapid collection of actual data.
Volkhovets and Odyssey Consulting Group continue to cooperate as part of a project to introduce a corporate information system based on the Microsoft Dynamics AX platform.
