Lexmark
Macrospect Integrates New xP&A Planning System for Lexmark Providing Agile, Collaborative Environment.
Situation
Lexmark needed to shift their business model due to significant changes in the marketplace. Their old tools did not allow for quick turnaround of vast financial changes in this quickly evolving market. They needed faster forecast details that would allow them to quickly assess specific product forecasts, the profitability, and allow for rapid changes due to market demand and supply chain availability. They also needed a better way to allocate employee time and funds for investments. Lexmark desired an agile and collaborative environment, and determined that a modern xP&A approach would create a complete, detailed, and actionable financial picture of their new model. Finally, a Finance expert that deeply understood their legacy SAP data and could properly map the migration to their new planning software was a must.
Action
- A Finance-controlled system without the need for IT Admin initiation
- Reduce time and effort it takes to produce a global forecast
- Have quick visibility from top to bottom of forecast information
- Be able to do multiple scenario planning quickly and easily
Result
A new xP&A cloud-based planning tool meant common processes and schedules could be defined and collaboration achieved across a global enterprise at multiple levels. Visibility from factory managers up through the corporate CFO meant fewer manual pushes, allowing for increased speed and accuracy. Forecasts no longer took weeks; they could be produced in days. Significantly less effort was needed to perform aggregated reports allowing for more analysis without increasing the workload. Scenario modeling could be done in real time showing the impacts on multiple cost centers with the touch of a button.
Macrospect integrated Peoplesoft with Lexmark’s new system. Workday Adaptive Planning triggered the headcount allocations immediately and it became a seamless calculation without having to be initiated by IT Admin. Then the team split allocations by role allowing employees to split their services between multiple cost centers. This helped more accurately value the cost of a product or project. Now everything was visible in one system making more detailed planning and reporting possible.
Macrospect’s deep understanding of Lexmark’s SAP data structure allowed for GL information to be translated into meaningful and actionable data for Workday Adaptive Planning users.
Benefits:
Impact
- Before Lexmark didn’t have the ability to allocate resources in a detailed manner, limiting their reporting abilities. Now they have visibility into detailed labor cost allowing more understanding of the costs driving variances and profitability of specific product lines and investments.
- Lexmark achieved a faster forecasting process of days compared to weeks with a Finance managed system, they no longer rely on IT Admin.
- Lexmark has successfully reduced users from 300 to 100. Less effort is required to do forecasts, allowing more time available for true analysis without added workload.
- They now have the ability to model different scenarios in real time allowing for better planning of future impacts. With the touch of a button dynamic scenarios can be seen across all aspects of the business, for example timing of merit bonuses, Capex changes or Travel cost changes.