Case Study: Merkur

MERKUR Trade, Ltd. stands as the market leader in Slovenia for home products, DIY materials, electro-installation products, and various industrial items. The company’s width and depth of assortment and different sales channels brought forth challenges in their commercial and financial planning procedures. These challenges necessitated a more cohesive approach to financial planning for better integration, expedited calculations, and improved responsiveness to market dynamics. To address these demands, Merkur embarked on a partnership with CRMT to implement the CCH Tagetik planning and budgeting solution.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Shorter financial planning cycle

Reduced from 21 to 14 days

Shorter commercial planning cycle

Decreased from 13 to 8 days

Shorter dynamic plan calculation

Accelerated from 10 hours to 3 hours

Shorter data transfer to DWH

Cut from 1 day to 2 hours

Key Objectives

Why CRMT & CCH Tagetik

Merkur selected CRMT & CCH Tagetik for several reasons that are: CRMT’s long-term partnership with Tagetik and deep industry knowledge sets it apart and CCH Tagetik’s solution excels due to its:

• Integrated platform for financial and operational planning, budgeting, and reporting.
• User-friendly interface for easy model creation and modification.
• Advanced planning capabilities including what-if analysis and scenario planning.
• Scalability for enterprise-level planning and reporting.

CCH Tagetik transformed Merkur’s landscape: swift planning, real-time scenario assessment, independent control, and fortified decision support. Concurrent reporting and expedited data provisioning bolstered organisational responsiveness.

Boris Moškotelec, Head of Controlling at Merkur

Implementation

In response to these challenges and objectives, CRMT collaborated closely with Merkur to tailor a solution that leveraged the capabilities of the CCH Tagetik platform.

Benefits for Merkur

Benefits for Merkur from implementing the CCH Tagetik solution include:

Improved Responsiveness in Managing Changes:
The CCH Tagetik solution allowed Merkur to quickly update statement models and adapt planning and reporting structures in response to changes in the business model. With just a few clicks, recalculating any report or plan becomes effortless when new data emerges or modifications occur at the source. This improved their ability to respond to dynamic business conditions.

Integration of Plans:
The CCH Tagetik solution seamlessly integrated the results of the commercial plan into the financial planning process. This integration streamlined the planning process and ensured consistency between different aspects of planning.

Versioning with Scenarios:
Merkur could create multiple versions of dynamic commercial and financial plans with the CCH Tagetik solution. This enabled them to explore various scenarios and make manual adjustments at higher levels, while also allowing for automatic in-depth recalculation at lower levels.

Shortened Duration of Processes:
The implementation of the CCH Tagetik solution led to significant time savings. The transfer process of the commercial plan to the financial plan was automated, reducing the time required to complete the process to a maximum of 30 minutes. Additionally, the dynamic plan calculation at lower planning levels was reduced from overnight to less than an hour.

Independence from IT Department:
Merkur’s controlling department, responsible for the annual planning process, gained independence from the IT department for managing and transferring plans to the data warehouse. This enhanced autonomy streamlined the planning workflow.

Streamlined Reporting:
Introducing categories into the statement model using the CCH Tagetik solution simplified reporting. This allowed for adjustments to be made for various effects, such as Covid-19 or IFRS16, resulting in more accurate and informative reporting.

Efficient Data Transfer:
The CCH Tagetik solution made the process of exporting plans to the data warehouse (DWH) more efficient. The entire plan transfer was completed in less than 3 hours, reducing the time required for this step in the planning process.

Enhanced Data Accuracy and Reliability:
Through automated processes, monthly reports and data achieve higher accuracy, minimizing the need for verification and reducing work hours. This automation significantly improves data reliability.

Time Savings for Key Processes:
Implementation of the solution translates to saved time, which can be redirected towards critical tasks like forecasting and generating multiple plan versions. This newfound efficiency adds substantial value to the organization’s operations.

User-Friendly Interface and Remarkable Performance:
The comprehensive CCH Tagetik solution offers extensive customization options and flexibility, while remaining easy to use for the average user. Operating through Excel, familiar to most users, accelerates the learning curve. Proper training enables quick independence, alongside the platform’s capacity for versatile report/process modeling and seamless model upgrades.

Unified Data Repository:
Information from diverse sectors, such as finance and commercial planning, is consolidated in a single accessible platform. Comparisons between data sets are effortless, eliminating the need for offline Excel files, document systems, and email-based change exchanges.

Enhanced Security and User Restrictions:
Users can be restricted across dimensions, ensuring that only authorized individuals can access/edit data, bolstering security measures.

Comprehensive Auditing:
The inclusion of an audit log is exceptionally crucial. Unlike scattered Excel files, Tagetik’s audit log records all changes—user logins, data alterations, job executions—providing precise timestamps down to milliseconds.