Read this article about IBM, Finalist in the Best Achievement in Operational Excellence to deliver Digital Transformation, selected by the independent judging panel, for the 2020 Business Transformation & Operational Excellence Industry Awards program.

With Accounts Receivable (AR) being at the very end of IBMs Supply Chain process it is one of the areas where multiple data streams flow together. Some of the data points are essential for Accounts Receivable professionals to make sound decisions supporting a healthy collection program that ultimately supports our company's Days Sales Outstanding (DSO). IBM is operating in more than 170 countries with data hosted in several dozens of different sources with inconsistent formats and/or granularity. Prior to our project, it had to be consolidated manually across geographies, markets, brands and systems. This meant that approximately 40% of staff time was spent in preparing, reconciling, and reviewing results instead of investing that time to drive DSO improvement & support clients.

Our journey to a cognitive AR project is focusing on bringing together IBMs capabilities around data, analytics, cognitive, blockchain, and cloud technology to provide one single view on AR & DSO crucial data that augments decisive human insight with the disruptive power of AI. Starting with our first chapter in 2014, we first focused on data integration from different sources, harmonizing the AR processes, aligning definitions, and metrics around the globe. Once accomplished “global data with the click of a button” we entered our second chapter and took early steps into the analytical world, applied predictive models to provide payment likelihood, prescriptive analytics to provide recommended actions to collectors, and explored various cognitive APIs.

With all AR data and operations being consolidated in a single place with a fast, visual, and intuitive user interface, the AR stakeholders could monitor daily priorities through an instant view of the cash collection status to drive decisions from real data. Ultimately, we eliminated the need for Excel spreadsheets across the entire organization to manage or visualize AR data. In addition, the cognitive modules provide recommendations to balance workload, track client behavior, and apply proactive actions. The initiative changed the way Accounts Receivable professionals carry out their activities on a daily base, and most importantly, it allowed for more time to be spent with clients and making informed decisions in a timely manner.

The solution has now been upgraded and moved to the cloud. It has also expanded to integrate segmented finance data providing new data points for our second chapter in the journey. With all of these deliverables and our operational agile transformation, we supported a 30% productivity improvement globally in the past two years.

About the Awards

The Business Transformation & Operational Excellence Awards have been established to showcase globally the most outstanding organizational achievements through the application of Operational Excellence programs. Click here to view the Press Release.

The winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony at The Business Transformation & Operational Excellence World Awards (BTOES) on Wednesday, March 25th, 2020, from 6.30pm in the Venetian Ballroom at the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando Resort.

The Business Transformation & Operational Excellence Awards are open to all organizations, both private and public sector, across the globe, which have implemented Operational Excellence programs to deliver outstanding business results.

The Awards will be held in conjunction with the Business Transformation & Operational Excellence World Summit, BTOES 2020 in the beautiful Venetian Ballroom on March 25, 2020 at the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando™️. Click to access the agenda, view the current speakers, and watch the highlights video from last year.

BTOES.com

The issues in this article are just one of topic areas that are going to be discussed at the Business Transformation & Operational Excellence World Summit & Industry

BTOES is the industry’s biggest and best, senior-level, cross-industry gathering of Business Transformation & Operational Excellence industry leaders and senior executives.

It also hosts the Business Transformation & Operational Excellence Awards, which showcase globally the most outstanding organizational achievements through the application of Operational Excellence programs.

The summits hosts a number of private forums for C-Level & Global corporate-level leaders as well as business unit heads.

With over 150 speakers, over 100 sessions, 12 Keynotes, 9 Track Themes, 5 parallel tracks, 60+ track sessions, 50 roundtable discussions, 20 Interactive Workshops, 6 Thought Leader Panels, 5 Leaders Boardrooms, 5 co-located events, the Industry Awards Program, Site Visits, 20+ hours of social networking including 2 gala cocktail parties, dinners, numerous group activities, this is the ultimate event to benchmark, network and drive Operational Excellence to the next level.

Quick Links

Speakers

Agenda

BTOES Awards

There is a strong focus on Cultural Transformation, Customer Delight, Sustaining an Operational Excellence program, Need for end-to-end Business Transformation, Keeping up with new technologies/impact of digitalization and Leadership Buy-in & Understanding. We dedicated two tracks to advanced technologies, such as AI, Machine Learning, RPA, Predictive Analytics, Blockchain, Cloud infrastructure etc.

The agenda is designed to encourage active meaningful conversations though all day enhanced networking and interaction opportunities, including

• All-day Refreshment & Themed Breaks

• 1¼ Hour Hot Breakfast Networking Sessions

• 1½ Hour Hot Plated Networking Lunches with Topic & Industry Sector focussed tables

• 1½ Hour Roundtable Sessions by Topic & Industry Sector.

• Keynote & Themes Panel Sessions

• Hosted Welcome Receptions from 5.30pm

• Expanded more lavish Awards Program

• Newly launched Night Summit for attendees to meet after dinner

For more information or to discuss the summit in more detail please schedule a call below,

Click here to schedule a call.