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How Anaplan helped the Unilever Supply Chain Finance team move from a data management-centric approach to a customer-centric analytical approach

Client
Unilever US
Industry
FMCG
Functional area
Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
Solution
Anaplan
How Anaplan helped the Unilever Supply Chain Finance team move from a data management-centric approach to a customer-centric analytical approach

We made a great step forward: I can now make changes in real time, whereas previously we had to manage a system consisting of many Excel files, which took up a lot of our team’s time. Now we have an easy, integrated process that holds all our reports in one place, connects all the team members and excludes human factors.

Barath Ranganathan, Supply Chain Finance Manager
01
BUSINESS CHALLENGE

The USA is Unilever’s biggest market. They have a broad portfolio of brands across dozens of product categories and businesses, including personal care, beauty, food and much more. Managing such a complex and diverse portfolio is a challenge because of the multidimensional reporting needed for such a wide range of products.

The Supply Chain Finance team needed a technology solution to accelerate and improve the Gross Margin Variance Analysis (GMVA) process. The existing process was data management-centric and built on numerous Excel files, which greatly slowed down the team’s work and overcomplicated the analysis. Moreover, it took a lot of time to create and maintain a file for a new report every month, and to locate a specific data element to answer a particular business question.

The USA is Unilever’s biggest market. They have a broad portfolio of brands across dozens of product categories and businesses, including personal care, beauty, food and much more. Managing such a complex and diverse portfolio is a challenge because of the multidimensional reporting needed for such a wide range of products.

The Supply Chain Finance team needed a technology solution to accelerate and improve the Gross Margin Variance Analysis (GMVA) process. The existing process was data management-centric and built on numerous Excel files, which greatly slowed down the team’s work and overcomplicated the analysis. Moreover, it took a lot of time to create and maintain a file for a new report every month, and to locate a specific data element to answer a particular business question.

02
SOLUTION

The GMVA process on the Anaplan cloud platform is multifaceted: adjustments to the existing forecast can be made, different forecast scenarios can be created, and the actual data and forecast data can be calculated and compared using a set of different drivers. Now, Unilever is able to understand why the gross margin has changed.

As a result of the joint efforts of a blended team of experts from Planingo and Unilever, the following functional features were created:

  • Anaplan replaced a complex system of interdependent Excel files so that the team could quickly update the data across all reports;
  • Users can now compare any versions of the forecast with the actual data, and compare different forecast versions with each other at a product level;
  • Teams can make unique calculations for each user of the model, which makes it possible to monitor specific product groups and customize individual reports;
  • Users can easily upload the latest versions of the forecast, create new versions and even update the product hierarchy;
  • Users can check any cell calculation and see any changes made to the whole process at any time.

The GMVA process on the Anaplan cloud platform is multifaceted: adjustments to the existing forecast can be made, different forecast scenarios can be created, and the actual data and forecast data can be calculated and compared using a set of different drivers. Now, Unilever is able to understand why the gross margin has changed.

As a result of the joint efforts of a blended team of experts from Planingo and Unilever, the following functional features were created:

  • Anaplan replaced a complex system of interdependent Excel files so that the team could quickly update the data across all reports;
  • Users can now compare any versions of the forecast with the actual data, and compare different forecast versions with each other at a product level;
  • Teams can make unique calculations for each user of the model, which makes it possible to monitor specific product groups and customize individual reports;
  • Users can easily upload the latest versions of the forecast, create new versions and even update the product hierarchy;
  • Users can check any cell calculation and see any changes made to the whole process at any time.
03
BUSINESS VALUE
  • The whole approach has changed from data management-centric to a more customer-centric and analytic process, as the team switched from collecting data to analyzing business prospects;
  • Users can get reporting completed more quickly, which allows for smoother process management;
  • The organization went from being geography-based (all of North America) to being business unit-driven (PC, IC, etc.). This also allows the team to look at their data on a more granular level;
  • The speed of the GMVA process has been increased, helping give reports almost a day earlier;
  • The number of errors and inconsistencies in the calculations decreased significantly and is now negligible;
  • Calculations are now more transparent and scenarios can be planned in real time;
  • The overall visibility of data, flexibility and speed of business analysis has increased, which contributes to making successful data-driven management decisions.
  • The whole approach has changed from data management-centric to a more customer-centric and analytic process, as the team switched from collecting data to analyzing business prospects;
  • Users can get reporting completed more quickly, which allows for smoother process management;
  • The organization went from being geography-based (all of North America) to being business unit-driven (PC, IC, etc.). This also allows the team to look at their data on a more granular level;
  • The speed of the GMVA process has been increased, helping give reports almost a day earlier;
  • The number of errors and inconsistencies in the calculations decreased significantly and is now negligible;
  • Calculations are now more transparent and scenarios can be planned in real time;
  • The overall visibility of data, flexibility and speed of business analysis has increased, which contributes to making successful data-driven management decisions.

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