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CASE STUDIES

CASE STUDY: SAP CASH MANAGEMENT / TREASURY IMPROVEMENT
Rolls-Royce Corporation

ABOUT THE CLIENT
Rolls-Royce is the second-largest aircraft engine maker in the world and one of the largest makers of marine propulsion systems. The company has annual sales of $9 billion and employs 39,200 people.

Rolls-Royce has engaged Dickinson + Associates on several SAP initiatives since 1998. The various projects involved a variety of SAP R/3 versions (e.g., 3.1h, 3.1i, 4.6c, etc.) and focused around Supply Chain Management (Logistics, Production), Sales and Distribution, Finance and Human Resources.

CASH MANAGEMENT PROJECT
Rolls-Royce approached Dickinson + Associates to assist them with several post implementation issues that needed addressing:
• Many business processes in practice did not fit the new environment with ERP and SAP.
• Rolls-Royce end users lacked an understanding of the optimal SAP-enabled processes.
• There were inconsistent behaviors and application of best practices.
• The organization structure did not properly fit the new processes and procedures. Job roles    

• needed to be redefined as did responsibilities.
• There was no understanding of metrics and impact on the business.

The Dickinson + Associates team members worked closely with Rolls-Royce to identify several opportunities for financial improvement:
• Further reducing financing costs or increasing overnight returns by implementing best practices

• in disbursement processing.
• Improving cash management business processes integrating Rolls-Royce processes into SAP   

• and consolidating operations in Indianapolis.
• Improving investment decisions based on usage integrated planning and budgeting processes.

RESULTS ACHIEVED BY DICKINSON + ASSOCIATES
Dickinson + Associates worked with Rolls-Royce in developing a long-term road-map to transform the organization to a culture driven by ERP. While the ERP program and the new Business Process Model certainly yielded lasting benefits to the organization, there were some areas of opportunity where more immediate financial benefit was recognized (e.g., increased cash flow).

An example of an area where Dickinson + Associates helped Rolls-Royce was in Cash Management. These processes included credit management, lock box processing, electronic bank statements, cash management positions, liquidity forecasting and cash concentration.

Our consultants’ business experience in treasury and cash management, coupled with SAP technical expertise helped drive results quickly and cost effectively. Rolls-Royce was able to increase their average cash balance by $70 million through accelerated credit and collection processes and SAP support tools. At the same time, they managed to increase annual interest revenue by $6 million. Results led to the Indianapolis Branch being recognized by the Rolls-Royce Chairman for best improvement worldwide for that year.