Transforming Accounts Receivable: Mars' Success with Celonis
Technology Category
- Analytics & Modeling - Process Analytics
- Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)
Applicable Industries
- Education
- Mining
Use Cases
- Time Sensitive Networking
- Virtual Training
Services
- Training
About The Customer
Mars is the fourth largest private company in the United States, operating on a massive scale across various industries. The company's size and scope mean that it deals with a high volume of deductions in its Accounts Receivable process, which can quickly add up and impact the bottom line. Mars was seeking to reduce deduction inflow, increase recovery rates, and cut cycle times in its A/R process. To achieve these goals, the company needed a solution that could provide clear visibility into the causes and sources of deductions, as well as the ability to implement effective changes based on this insight. The challenge of managing this complex process fell to Nikki Nagel, Mars' Accounts Receivable Transformation Lead, who brought extensive experience in A/R roles to the task.
The Challenge
Mars, the fourth largest private company in the US, was facing a significant challenge in managing its Accounts Receivable (A/R) process. The company was dealing with a high volume of deductions, but lacked clear visibility into the causes and sources of these deductions. This lack of insight made it difficult to tackle and reduce the deductions effectively. The challenge was further compounded when Nikki Nagel was appointed as Mars Accounts Receivable Transformation Lead. Despite her extensive experience in A/R roles, she was unfamiliar with process mining and the Celonis Execution Management System (EMS), tools that could potentially help address the deduction issue. Mars had three primary goals: reducing deduction inflow, increasing recovery rates, and reducing cycle times. However, without a clear understanding of the root causes of the deductions and the necessary technological expertise, achieving these goals was a daunting task.
The Solution
To address these challenges, Mars turned to the Celonis Execution Management System (EMS). Nikki Nagel, despite her initial unfamiliarity with the system, invested time in learning about Celonis through its robust training platform. This allowed her to quickly gain a comprehensive understanding of the system and its capabilities. With this newfound knowledge, she was able to identify that the company's opportunity lay not just in how deductions were coded and identified, but also in the potential for automation to reduce manual deduction identification. This insight led to the implementation of intelligent automation, which significantly cut coding and rework time. Furthermore, Mars leveraged early successes with the Celonis EMS to drive adoption across the business. The company made a concerted effort to communicate the benefits of the system to the rest of the enterprise, emphasizing its ability to identify non-value adding tasks and improve overall execution. Through these efforts, Mars was able to make Celonis a part of its regular business operations.
Operational Impact
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