Case studies

Schnellecke Group

World wide reporting with the Schnellecke Group

"Everything flows, and nothing stays in one place longer than is useful," is the logistic ambition which the Schnellecke Group sets itself both as an express company and as a provider of logistics services. Speed, efficiency and reliability are also what the Wolfsburg-based group expects from their controlling software, which is why the Schnellecke Group uses CORPORATE PLANNER for enterprise planning world wide.

From a small truckage company to a global player – the demands on controlling increase

"It all started when the previous enterprise planning using Excel sheets found itself unable to cope with the increased company size and product diversification," says Matthias Malicke, Head of Central Controlling. „We stopped being simply an express company a long time ago; we offer complete logistic solutions to the automobile industry, or develop, construct and design car body parts and motor vehicle components. So we were looking for a controlling instrument which was flexible enough to cope with the changes in our company structure." The company owner himself knew the solution. He knew that the Wolfsburg public utility company ("Stadtwerke Wolfsburg") were enthusiastic CORPORATE PLANNER users, and arranged a fact-finding meeting with their controllers. After another presentation of the software at the CeBit exhibition in Hanover, Matthias Malicke was finally convinced that he had found the right solution for "his" controlling department.

Central reporting

The main concern at the introduction of the software at the start of 1999 was to be able to set up enterprise planning and business management reporting for the entire group. The Schnellecke Group consists of over 40 individual companies and holdings. The data from the various international companies are regularly sent to the central controlling department in Germany and accumulated. "In the Central Controlling Dept. in Wolfsburg we use a 10-year version of CORPORATE PLANNER with a flexible time span. This means we can construct rolling budgets several business years into the future. The individually definable data streams have also proved to be extremely useful. Actual accounts data read in from our DATEV system in the form of balance lists and outstanding items can be compared to our plan and forecast data. Variances can be identified by a drill-down method and appropriate measures taken." Matthias uses a separate CORPORATE PLANNER structure for each company. On top of that he has constructed a structure for the entire organisation, so that individual results and the overall result can be easily displayed. Working on this principle also allows different consolidation groups to be constructed.

Individual reports for the company management

The data thus acquired is then presented by Matthias Malicke and his colleagues to central management.
This is another area where CORPORATE PLANNER's flexibility is unbeatable. Without having to spend a great deal of time on them, the reports can be individually and professionally designed, and adapted as necessary to the requirements of a particular manager. Whether it's a monthly, quarterly or annual report can be decided with just a click on the time slider. So everyone can get precisely the information they need, quickly and free of errors.

World wide controlling standard

It's precisely these attributes which have moved Matthias to introduce CORPORATE
PLANNER into the other offices of the Schnellecke Group. "Controlling in the Schnellecke Group measures up to the high quality aspirations of our company. To guarantee this world wide, we use CORPORATE PLANNER in the larger locations with their own controlling departments all over the world. Our company in Puebla, Mexico implemented the English version of the software in October without a hitch." Previously the German locations and the companies in Spain were linked to the system. Other companies may follow, whether in Brazil, Portugal or South Africa. "It makes no sense to use self-made, error-prone analysis tools in one country while using a professional application in another. The standard of controlling should be equally high, regardless of location."

The future – web-based reports?

Matthias Malicke also expresses interest in another, new product in the CP range: "The reporting possibilities in the web-based, multilingual CP-WEB could be very interesting for an internationally operating company like ourselves. The idea that, during our monthly telephone conferences, all participants could call up the same report on the internet, which would then appear in the appropriate language for the country in which it was being viewed, and in which you could even do a drill-down analysis, is fascinating. Thanks to the new techniques, controlling has been given completely new perspectives," he concludes.