Case Study | Read time: #
A logistics company had blocked working capital of ~USD 25 Million in its finance and accounting function
WNS’ transformational solution entailed setting up a center of excellence, leveraging digitization and robotics, and applying process risk frameworks
The solution helped the logistics company free up working capital of more than USD 100 Million
Freight and logistics entail complex operations, multiple touchpoints and transactions. Disparate and manual processes result in revenue leakage, reduced cash flow and high operational costs. By leveraging process excellence, digitization and Robotic Process Automation (RPA), logistics companies can help automate the workflow, improve process efficiency and release working capital.
A significant level of revenue leakage, blocked working capital of ~USD 25 Million and average cycle time of 15 days in its Finance and Accounting (F&A) operations across several business units. One of the root causes was manual F&A processes with limited audit checks, compliance and control. Additionally, the company was on an expansion spree through acquisitions. This had led to siloed technology systems and disparate processes across multiple locations leading to gaps in communication.
WNS developed a business transformation solution led by RPA and digitization. We leveraged our domain knowledge and experience in managing F&A operations for similar clients to design a three-pronged approach underpinned by our proprietary Robotics and Digital Automation TRACTM.
Key aspects of the approach include:
Simplification and Harmonization
Establishing a Center of Excellence (CoE) to standardize and centralize all F&A operations across North America and APAC regions
Digitization and Robotics
Leveraging Robotics and Digital Automation TRACTM suite to identify, flag and re-assign duplicate invoices based on multiple parameters; this helped identify revenue leakages
Process Excellence
Designing and deploying a risk compliance framework to flag all non-standard processes, and identify risks and non-compliance with end-customer terms and conditions
Identifying early payments on non-critical invoices that were impacting the cash flow and late payments that were resulting in penalties; analyzing the vendor list to identify and highlight those that required immediate payments
That process excellence through standardization and centralization can lead to improved compliance and end-customer satisfaction.
Other significant benefits include:
More than USD 100 Million working capital freed to generate annual interest savings of close to USD 0.8 Million
Duplicate payments worth ~USD 2 Million identified and recoveries initiated
Urgent invoice volume reduced from ~USD 20 Million to ~USD 2 Million
Early payments reduced from more than USD 11 Million to ~USD 1.5 Million
Late payments reduced from ~USD 7 Million to ~USD 0.7 Million
Average cycle time reduced from 15 days to 6 days
80 percent reduction in duplicate invoices
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Digital
03 December 2021
Finance and Accounting
Technology