28 Oct Suntory Global Spirits successfully automates its international treasury center located in Madrid
Madrid, October 28, 2024. Suntory Global Spirits, one of the world’s leading international spirits companies, has successfully completed the automation of its European treasury center located in Madrid. This project, led by the financial technology consultancy All CMS and using Kyriba’s Treasury Management System (TMS), marks an important milestone in the company’s financial optimization, enabling the centralization and automation of its financial operations.
Challenges and needs
In 2022, Suntory Global Spirits faced a number of treasury management challenges due to the dispersion of its financial operations across multiple subsidiaries and two treasury centers: one in Chicago and one in Madrid. Handling intercompany loans and managing payments in the 30 countries where the company has operations added complexity to financial management. In addition, reliance on manual tools such as Excel led to repetitive tasks and a high margin of error, creating an urgent need for improvement and automation in the finance department’s tasks.
Solution implemented
To meet these challenges, the company decided to implement a Treasury Management System (TMS) with the help of the consulting firm All CMS for its European treasury center. By choosing the same solution used at its Chicago headquarters, Kyriba, the company was able to automate key processes such as bank position control and intercompany transactions, eliminating reliance on manual tools. In addition, the integration of the TMS with the ERP system, SAP in this case, allowed for more flexible accounting and simplified payment management through direct connection with the banks.
Key benefits
The results of the TMS implementation have been highly satisfactory:
- Elimination of repetitive tasks: Process automation freed the finance team from administrative tasks, allowing them to concentrate on higher value-added activities.
- Increased security: The solution guarantees the integrity of financial data, minimizing the risk of human error.
- Integration with ERP (SAP, in this case): The TMS was seamlessly integrated with the existing system, ensuring consistency and flexibility in transaction posting.
- Simplification of payment management: Direct communication with the banks streamlined the payment, authorization and control processes.
- Operational efficiency: The elimination of human error and the automation of processes significantly improved the efficiency of the finance department.
- More informed decision making: Access to centralized financial information in real time facilitated more agile and accurate decision making.
Carlos Zapatero, International Treasury Manager at Suntory Global Spirits, commented: “Adopting a TMS from All CMS, a Kyriba-certified partner, gave us the peace of mind of implementing a solution that we were already familiar with from our colleagues in Chicago. This implementation has improved the efficiency of the finance department, which has resulted in greater accuracy and agility of financial information for business decision making in such a dynamic and competitive environment as the beverage industry”.
About Suntory Global Spirits
With a history dating back to the 18th century, Suntory Global Spirits manages a broad portfolio of world-renowned beverage brands, such as Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Yamazaki or Hibiki and various whiskey, gin and tequila brands. The company has experienced steady growth since 2014, when it had a turnover of $2.5 billion, to reach $5.5 billion by 2023. Suntory currently employs more than 6,000 people in over 30 countries and maintains a strong commitment to environmental sustainability and social responsibility.
For more information: www.suntoryglobalspirits.com
About All CMS
All CMS is a consulting firm focused on the needs of its clients to manage the shift towards new models of treasury management and payment automation. All CMS unites the knowledge of the best treasury applications with the expertise of its team of consultants to guide companies in the transformation of the treasurers’ function. It is recognized for its expertise in financial solutions, offering a complete set of tools to solve two-way banking connectivity, provide immediate visibility of the treasury position, manage intercompany positions, automate bank transaction classification and accounting, and execute payments securely, without risk of manual error or fraud. Its customer-centric approach and proven track record make All CMS the ideal choice for companies looking to optimize their financial infrastructure.
Download the press release about the automation of Suntory Global Spirits’ European treasury center.
Learn about the details of the treasury center automation project at Suntory Global Spirits.
Discover the success story of Suntory Global Spirits on how it automated the management of its European treasury center and optimized the time of its finance department with All CMS.
