Find out how AMAG, the biggest Volkswagen Group dealership group in Switzerland, has turned to Acterys Planning Intelligence to cut its planning cycle times in half.
This case study details how the AMAG Retail Finance team deployed the Acterys integrated planning system to unlock seamless integration between Excel, Power BI and Microsoft Fabric – dramatically improving data quality and completing the implementation within just five months. We also detail how AMAG Retail’s Acterys-enabled integrated planning approach equips the financial team with an ideal platform for AI-ready decision-making and enhanced cross-functional collaboration.
AMAG Automobil und Motoren AG (AMAG) is a Swiss family business that has grown steadily since its foundation in 1945. The company is now a leader in the automotive and energy sectors, and the biggest car dealership group in Switzerland distributing Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, Škoda, CUPRA, Bentley and VW Commercial Vehicles.
Operating across 90 locations with approaching 8,000 employees, AMAG is actively shaping the future of mobility through digital transformation, sustainability initiatives and new business models. The company is committed to achieving a carbon-neutral footprint by 2040.
Transforming the planning cycle for AMAG
The AMAG Retail Finance team found that it was increasingly faced with a frustrating and time-consuming planning cycle, with an Excel-based approach proving challenging for users across the business.
Reto Haupt, Financial Controller for AMAG, explained how the company’s manual, error-prone workflow was slowing up the whole planning process. “We previously used Excel for planning, and some three years ago had moved to Power BI for our strategic reporting tool. However, over the same period we also transitioned from centralized planning by the controller to a more decentralized model where individual cost center owners were responsible for producing the initial forecasts.
“The problem from a planning perspective quickly became one of volume,” continued Reto. ”For every planning cycle we started with a Master Excel file, that quickly multiplied into 400-500 Excel copies as our cost center owners entered their own planning data. It was the same with the forecasts and the mid-term planning, and it became very time-consuming for everyone involved. And that’s before you factor in the inevitable multiplication of errors added to the Master file.
“Ideally planning cycles should feature enough time to enter all the data, produce an error-free consolidated result, and then take a step back to consider its impact and implications,” added Reto. “Simply getting all the data together from all the separate Excel files meant that this could be a challenge, with no real planning integration until we had completed all our database updates. This clearly needed to change.”
Identifying a next generation planning solution
AMAG operates in the fast-moving automotive and energy sectors. Because of this, Reto Haupt was determined to not only seek out a next generation planning capability, but also put a platform in place that could support the evolution of the AMAG Retail finance function. “Our goal was to shift from our current administration-heavy multiple Excel approach to a place where the software pretty much handled the whole planning cycle, leaving our finance professionals free to focus on anomaly detection and the actions needed to resolve issues.”
As part of the procurement process, the AMAG Retail team identified five essential requirements for the company’s next generation planning solution:
- Integration with Microsoft Power BI and Fabric
- Ability to meet the company’s strict security standards
- Intuitive operation for AMAG end-users
- Easy data source integration
- Powerful scenario simulation
“A few years ago AMAG Retail decided on Microsoft Power BI as our strategic tool for reporting, so our end-users were all familiar with Power BI reports,” explained Reto. “So it was essential for us that any planning solution would integrate fully with Power BI and also enable comprehensive write-back opportunities. We also needed a system that would support AMAG’s security requirements and our own SQL database.
“We wanted to make sure that any system was simple and intuitive for our users across the business,” added Reto. “They have to work through the planning process two or three times a year depending on the planning scenario, so we needed any system to be easy to understand. It had to be easy to connect and integrate different data sources to meet both our current and future needs. Finally we also wanted the ability to simulate multiple different scenarios to meet a broad range of requirements.”
AMAG Retail selects Acterys Planning Intelligence
After an initial search that identified a shortlist of three software vendors, AMAG Retail moved quickly to select the Acterys Planning Intelligence solution. “While a number of software firms supported Power BI and offered write-back functionality, we found that Acterys offered the best combination of Microsoft Power BI and Fabric support, data source integration, and the usability we required for our decentralized planning users,” explained Reto Haupt. “Acterys was also able to meet our IT security needs through its ability to support our strict security guidelines.”
“Having met the Acterys team, we felt that they understood the AMAG business and would also give us the support we needed through the implementation process,” added Reto. “We were also impressed by their development roadmap, and that the Acterys Planning Intelligence solution featured consistent new releases that would help the AMAG Retail Finance team keep pace with evolving market trends and the shift towards AI-enabled planning.”
Implementation completed in just five months
Once the decision was taken to go with Acterys in March, AMAG’s Retail Finance team was keen to move forward quickly as the deployment had to be up and running in time for the company’s next budget cycle in October.
“We didn’t want the Acterys project to get too big, so AMAG adopted a small task force made up of myself from a business perspective supported by a technical SQL specialist,” said Reto. “This way we could see results quickly and gather momentum. This was made a lot easier by the way that Acterys is visually integrated with Power BI, so it’s very easy to build. You just have to drag and drop visuals in Power BI, and then you can do the write-back, as long as the proper data model is in place!
“We were able to finish the project in just five months, from initially learning Acterys through doing the data model and integrating different sources, implementing Power BI reports, and completing all the Acterys write-back visuals,” continued Reto. “Tools like the Acterys Data Modeler certainly helped, ensuring that we didn’t need deep SQL skills – apart from building views – in order to connect different data. Adopting a lean and agile execution method proved the right approach for AMAG Retail, making sure that we could enter the next budget cycle with Acterys fully up and running.”
What’s changed with Acterys in place?
Since deploying Acterys Planning Intelligence for financial planning across its multiple business cost centres, AMAG Retail has been able to reduce its budget cycle length by some 50%. According to Reto Haupt: “it used to take us approximately two months to work through our budget cycle, now it takes just one, so we’ve cut the time needed in half.”
Transitioning from 500+ Excel files to the real-time Acterys Planning Intelligence collaborative solution has also delivered significant benefits in terms of improved data quality and transparency. “We’ve now got a planning platform in place that allows our end-users to see the impact of their own data in near-real-time thanks to the Acterys write-back capability,” he continued. “Whenever they change their numbers they can immediately see the impact on key metrics such as gross margin performance within seconds,” said Reto.
“Acterys Planning Intelligence also helps provide a much more integrated and timely planning view for AMAG Retail management, helping them to focus on the business decisions and make smarter choices,” he added. “For example, if a team wants to know the specific impact of selling 100 more cars, they can just run through the scenario using Acterys.”
Reto Haupt has also found that he has much more time available to focus on the data and decision-making aspects of the project. “Before Acterys it was all about uploading and downloading. Now we’ve got access to multiple planning scenarios, we can make changes quickly, and there’s no need to copy data back and forth,” said Reto. “We’ve now got a much more integrated view across our departments and profit centres, and with Acterys it’s definitely much easier for our end-users to enter their budget details. It’s much less stressful, and leaves us with time outside of the planning cycle to focus on improving our Acterys deployment.”
Taking planning forward with Acterys and AI
Now AMAG Retail has Acterys Planning Intelligence in place, Reto and the team are thinking about how they can evolve the Acterys solution for future requirements. “We’re currently stabilising the deployment – keeping the front-end as simple as possible, and deleting any unnecessary tables to prevent the back-end of the system from getting too complex,” explained Reto.
“Acterys Planning Intelligence has also provided AMAG Retail with the structure and data logic we need to prepare our environment for AI-enabled planning,” added Reto. “AI is a perfect fit with finance, and Acterys helps ensure we have the structured data in place to progress with AI-powered forecasts and budgets. We see this is as the more challenging phase of AI deployment, and are now looking forward to rolling out AI capabilities on top of our Microsoft and Acterys platforms.”
Results
- Working with Acterys has helped cut AMAG Retail budget cycle times in half
- Deployment took just five months, coming in ahead of budget cycle deadlines
- AMAG Retail end-users get to see the impact of their data changes within seconds
- AMAG Retail management benefit from integrated and timely planning with Acterys
- Acterys equips AMAG Retail with a platform for AI-enabled planning
50%
Budget cycle times cut in half
5
Deployment took just five months
