Digital Process Operations
Achieving operational excellence and financial health for American print major
Our client, an American printing major, sought an outsourcing partner to manage their order-to-cash (O2C) and procure-to-pay (P2P) services to optimize their operations, streamline processes and enhance system efficiencies. HCLTech, as their chosen partner for over four years, has continued to evolve their services to keep them competitive in a challenging market.
The Challenge
Multifaceted challenges demanded a pragmatic, forward-thinking approach to identify a solution
Our client, a globally recognized corporation specializing in print and digital document products and services across 160 countries, faced a multitude of formidable challenges.
- Navigating complexity: Their existing shared services organization was not enabling leadership objectives, process harmonization, digital transformation, low margins or the need for revenue optimization.
- Strategic challenges: The challenges encompassed a landscape of evolving technology and financial demands, requiring a strategic approach to overcome obstacles and drive growth.
- Meeting market realities: With a focus on staying competitive, they faced the reality of operating in a challenging market with a need for cash flow improvement and the adoption of modern self-service tools.
The Objective
Operational excellence, automation for agility and a customer-centric approach
First and foremost, the aim was to enhance operations' cost efficiency significantly. The implementation of process automation within the existing workflows was a priority aimed at streamlining operations and reducing errors. An integrated governance model was essential, ensuring continuous alignment with their evolving business strategy and offering the flexibility and agility needed in today's fast-paced business environment. Recognizing the importance of modernized customer interactions, the introduction of self-service portals was a cornerstone of the partnership. These objectives were set to not only overcome the challenges but also to enhance our client's financial and operational excellence.
The Solution
An approach encompassing several critical dimensions, spanning people, processes and technology
HCLTech offered a comprehensive suite of solutions designed to address their challenges head-on. These solutions were meticulously implemented through a dynamic partnership to yield substantial benefits.
- Unlocking global talent: HCLTech embarked on a journey of geo-balancing solutions, including rebadging more than 2,200 full-time employees. This transformation was achieved via an accelerated transition process completed within just six quarters. The introduction of the enterprise-to-customer value stream support model ensured seamless support from sales to cash application. To further optimize the workforce, the consolidation of operations from over 40 delivery locations into five global shared service hubs took place, ensuring efficient performance and cost optimization. Team member incentives were aligned with expected outcomes, leading to a performance-driven and cost-effective approach.
- Data-driven process optimization: The implementation of predictive analytics played a pivotal role in enancing the collections cycle and reducing disputes. The rollout of golden processes using IBM Blueworks ushered in an era of operational excellence. Opportunities for incorrect or delayed customer invoices were eliminated through process automation and the introduction of effective operating controls.
- Technology for automation and efficiency: Robotics, workflow tools and process automation were skilfully employed to achieve straight-through processing. Dispute resolution was significantly improved by adopting global ticketing solutions using Toscana, HCLTech's Business Process Modeling (BPM) workflow tool. Additionally, a suite of self-service customer portal tools was developed, enhancing the customer experience and streamlining interactions.
The Impact
Significant benefits and impactful changes
The partnership between HCLTech and the client yielded profound results, transforming the landscape of order-to-cash and procure-to-pay services. The initiatives put forth to address challenges and achieve objectives were highly successful, leading to a range of significant benefits and impactful changes.
- Optimizing operations with efficiency gains: Through the consolidation, standardization, simplification and automation of processes, HCLTech delivered a remarkable 40% efficiency gain. This improvement significantly reduced operational costs, enhanced performance and streamlined operations.
- Industry best-in-class through process modeling: HCLTech's BPM implementation resulted in the development of the industry's best-in-class golden processes. This standardized approach created a strong foundation for efficiency and consistency throughout operations.
- Encouraging innovation with change culture: The Lean Six Sigma-based change culture within the partnership was instrumental in driving creative ideas. Initiatives such as the Global Botathon, which generated more than 270 innovative ideas, demonstrated a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.
- Cost-efficiency and savings: The partnership achieved a remarkable 40% confirmed savings across the deal team, with the roadmap firmly on track. These savings contributed to our client's financial health and operational excellence.
- Streamlined operations with ERP integration: The integration of 27 ERP instances into nine instances streamlined operations and enhanced data management. Further convergence efforts were initiated to optimize efficiency.
- Simplification and streamlining through billing platform consolidation: The consolidation of five billing platforms into one platform greatly simplified billing processes. This efficiency led to an improved customer experience and operational effectiveness.
- Adapting to growth with flexibility and scalability: The partnership brought about enhanced flexibility and scalability. The global footprint allowed for increased adaptability in a dynamic business landscape.
- Enhanced financial health and billing accuracy: Automating pre-billing inputs led to a 10% improvement in billing accuracy, accelerating cash flow by $33M. This financial enhancement was a testament to the partnership's impact on our client's financial health.
