Utilising lean methodologies, Libra Europe identified a saving opportunity with the finance function of a global 3PL logistics company. Libra Europe went a step further by designing new streamlined processes, provided recommendations on how to utilise low code automation to remove manual tasks and developed a roadmap of implementation of this new process along with further improvements and transitioning towards a centralised finance function model.
Client
Industry Leading 3PL Provider
Date
March 5, 2024
Services
The client is a global 3PL logistics company operating across 27 countries, with 970 warehouse locations. This project involved working with their UK team.
The client undertook a significant investment programme to implement Oracle across the business. The business used the implementation programme to review business functions and engaged Libra Europe to identify improvements to operating efficiency to deliver savings against the current operating model and offset some of the cost of implementation. There was a desire to explore the opportunity of centralising core responsibilities within the Finance function that could lead to eventually moving a central shared service offshore. Libra was asked to focus on the weekly/monthly P&L cycle. Through years of acquisition, senior executives were aware of inconsistency of process and accuracy across multiple sites and business units, but wanted to understand the potential size of the saving opportunity. Libra started the analysis by concentrating efforts on a single business unit to use as a proof of concept.
A detailed end-to-end process mapping was conducted to capture the weekly/monthly profit and loss (P&L) process flow of a single Business Unit. This methodical approach involved tracking how data flowed from various internal suppliers, methods of information delivery, timeframes, deadlines, and outputs. Additionally, further lean practitioner methods were used to ascertain the sizepotential saving opportunities across other finance responsibilities .
Key themes emerged from this analysis:
- Significant process variation across sites
- Inconsistent use of templates for data exchanges and reporting
- Heavy reliance on manual activities and data manipulation
- Lack of governance in process management, with deadlines not effectively managed
- Allocation of activities to resources based on customer accounts rather than complexity or workload volume
Solutions were identified to address these issues:
- Standardising weekly/monthly P&L processes to eliminate waste and variability, with an emphasis on getting it right the first time through training and coaching
- Standardising data input templates for suppliers to facilitate automated data exchange and population into output templates
- RPA (low code automation using Microsoft Power Platform) to automate extract of information, reminders for late data submission and visibility of sites that are late
- Rebalancing activities throughout the week to distribute the demand load on resources more evenly
- Reallocating activities across resources based on complexity rather than being driven solely by customer accounts
- Establishing a Centre of Excellence (centralised) model to take ownership of, deliver, and continuously improve best practice processing
The recommended P&L process improvement yielded a time-saving opportunity equivalent to 4 full-time employees (FTE), alongside an additional saving of 2 FTE through non-P&L activity enhancement. There was a potential £40k saving opportunity by reallocating activities across resources. Furthermore, a roadmap was established to implement and actualise these savings opportunities within the current fiscal year. This initiative also lays the groundwork for transitioning towards a centralised business function target operating model.
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