Following his appointment in late 2008, in the midst of the credit crunch, Jack Sillekens embarked on the challenge of improving and structuring Baetsen's credit management system.
De Baetsen Groep was founded in 1960 in Veldhoven as a ‘small transport company’. In a little under 50 years, the company has evolved into a prominent market player with various business units, including Transport, Recycling, Containers, Crane Hire, Transshipment and Storage. Baetsen has remained a family business ever since: flexible, customer-driven and innovative, a place where the customer is still king. Baetsen remains committed to its core values of quality, diversity and innovation. ‘Looking to the future is our top priority’. Words of wisdom spoken by the company's founder and former CEO, Thieu Baetsen, as he handed over the reins.
Structure
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During the years that Baetsen was using OnGuard, the company was not always able to maximize the potential of OnGuard. OnGuard was accessible to only one person. She ran two identical accounting systems, the second of which was accessible to colleagues. Exceptions were not configured as profiles, but updated manually. We had no overall overview of the 12 PLCs. In short: the system was cumbersome, unnecessarily time-consuming and attracted the wrath of internal users and customers alike’. Following his appointment in late 2008, in the midst of the credit crunch, Jack Sillekens embarked on the challenge of improving and structuring Baetsen's credit management system.
Results in brief….
- Cost savings and quality improvement
- Overdue accounts are repaid ten percent faster than before
- Defaults are passed on to debt collection agencies faster than before
- Improved insight and overview for the organization
- Efficient: a uniform approach
- User friendly and enjoyable
Focus on Credit Management
Baetsen decided to subject its debtor management policy to thorough scrutiny. After analyzing and comparing the wishes and requirements of Baetsen with the possibilities offered by OnGuard, the company concluded that further investments in a credit management system would certainly be worthwhile. OnGuard Enterprise provided the perfect answer to Baetsen's data management, reporting and process needs. Sillekens: ‘different authorization levels that provide access rights to a large number of employees, as well as extensive functionalities for a handful of users or only one main user, was an important criterion. In addition, a complete overview of all PLCs was urgently needed. The supplementary services provided by OnGuard DCMS and the Display Administrations module were the proverbial icing on the cake.’
Result
Combined, Baetsen's 12 PLCs submit approx. 40,000 invoices to 5,000 debtors a year. On average, the company has 1,250 outstanding debtors. Coordinating these outstanding balances single-handedly is a daunting challenge. Within a year, Sillekens achieved and even exceeded the targets of the restructured credit control system: ‘On average, overdue accounts are repaid ten percent faster than before. In view of the turbulent economy, it is difficult to calculate the extent to which losses and giveaways have been reduced. Where there is no alternative, defaults are passed to debt collection agencies two weeks faster than before. In addition to financial gains, OnGuard has helped us improve our knowledge base and, by extension, our image as a high-quality, professional customer service provider.’
Mobilizing support and everyday practice
Sillekens: ‘I made a conscious decision to invest in mobilizing support for this venture. ‘New ventures’ are always greeted with a certain amount of tension and even resistance. Thorough preparation with OnGuard, coupled with personal guidance and supervision, helped overcome these obstacles. The upgrade caused less upheaval than expected, and our employees unanimously agree that they wouldn't want to return to the old system!’
‘There are a number of practical advantages, such as Exception profiles. Customers with different payment terms are given different profiles, debtors and quarterly invoices are tracked separately. OnGuard assigns actions and priorities on a daily basis. Our system is connected to an external debt collection agency, enabling us to monitor the situation via OnGuard. The ease of use, speed and flexibility has made our work far more transparent, and much more fun!’
Future
Sillekens has plenty of plans: ‘Baetsen is a company to be proud of: innovative and forward-thinking. In my opinion, there are plenty of opportunities in credit management. Our reporting system could certainly be improved. Looking towards the future and investing remain top priorities.’