Customer Facing Supply Chain Management is the next level of O2C process maturity which is focusing on customer front end elements and brings Order to Cash cycle firmly integrated with customer experience, customer service, logistics, planning and other key functions.
Could you please elaborate on the importance of Data Quality and Customer Master Data?
I perceive the quality of data as a measurement of its “fitness for purpose“. In the long run, the data is only as good as it can support your process. The challenge is that customer data is shared by many teams and, as you can imagine, the more people you have around the table, the harder it is to agree on what “good“ means.
What are the typical challenges posed by the O2C related data objects such as customer, pricing and material master?
A customer base is where companies make money and that´s why a lot of pressure is put on the customer process. Last minute orders, exceptional one-off prices, product kits, additional accounts for promo products, we all know it and we all do it for our customers.
What are the solutions from your experience?
The solution is a simple and lean process. First and foremost, you need to define what “good” looks like. Once you have that defined, build the process to support it. Last but not least, cut the waste! Avoid multiple applications, manual inputs, Excel spreadsheets or exceptional approvals. Customers do not care about our process so let´s not bother them with it.
How to deal with a clash of business requirements?
Defining what “good” means to everyone is not an easy task, but it is worth it. The last thing you want is having 50% of your business done in the “exception mode”. If you need exceptional one-off prices, build them into your regular process. I have come to like the MoSCoW analysis which I prefer to do openly with all stakeholders seated in one room.
What would you like to achieve by attending the 15th Annual EMEA Customer Experience and Order to Cash conference?
I usually attend data expert conferences, so this is a great opportunity to hear about the new challenges that O2C colleagues are facing. I want to make sure that the D8 Data Suite we use in Medtronic has a potential solution for any of them.
About the speaker:
Libor Stenzl, the Data Quality manager in medical device giant Medtronic, joined the fascinating world of data more than seven years ago. In that time, he has had exposure to all common master data objects and has led his team through multiple large-scale projects including a recent SAP implementation. His day-to-day responsibility is to maximize the contribution of data to business process performance and to guarantee decisions about data are made by the right people.
Although educated in finance and humanities, Libor has developed an enthusiasm for data. “It must be my background in philology that makes me look for regularity and symmetry,” says Libor. He strongly believes the recipe for reliable data is a robust data organization connecting other functions within a company like blood flowing through its veins. “You cannot build a watertight system by gluing separate parts together. The whole function must be ONE.” With that in mind, Libor and his team have spent years cultivating an in-house methodology that combines multiple data disciplines in one toolset. Libor adds his final remark, “Data is like a language, it serves everyone, so it is hard to control, but it still must be ‘spoken’ properly!”
About the event:
This marcus evans event offers a unique opportunity and a great discussion platform for senior level management representatives to benchmark, share experiences and find solutions to their key tasks such as great customer experience, increased digitalization, the journey toward the true E2E O2C from planning to fulfilment and order management best practices.
One of the workshops will be devoted to overcoming change management challenges related to O2C transformation. Other important areas covered will include key customer master data and dispute management project.
