Many companies face this tremendous challenge – an interim manager can support the company and simplify the day-to-day operations
The Assignment
A medium sized manufacturing company in mechanical and process plant engineering plans to introduce a new ERP system by a fixed target date, changing from the old BaaN IV system to the new SAP system. The company has 250 employees and a revenue of about 80 million euros. It is wholly-owned by a US-based corporation and it is the market leader. The commercial manager, who is responsible for the introduction of the new ERP system, is working to full capacity. The company is therefore looking for an interim commercial manager to manage the day-to-day operations and help the introduction of the new ERP System.
The interim manager, now acting as commercial manager, is responsible for the the following departments: finance, controlling and accounting and will therefore also be responsible for 10 employees. He will take care of the day-to-day operations in external and internal accounting and ensures that they run smoothly, he will also ensure that monthly, quarterly and yearly financial statements are issued on schedule and according to the German Commercial Code and the U.S. GAAP, including reporting and that they are also reported to the parent company in the US. That’s where the HYPERION system is put to use.
Furthermore, the interim manager bears the responsibility for issuing budget plans and forecasts, including variance analyses as well as process documentation and ensuring that the corresponding audits are conducted according to the requirements established by Sarbanes-Oxley.
The Challenge
HANSE Interim hired the interim manager Armin Klein.
Mr. Klein does not only have the skills named above at his command, he also has more than 20 years of experience as a CFO and COO manufacturing companies as well as owner-managed companies and companies affiliated with groups, especially in the field of mechanical and process-plant engineering.
He reported the following:
“When I entered the company, I soon realized that I faced a great challenge: the existing ERP system BaaN IV had been further developed and customized for more than 15 years. It did not meet the common standard at all.
A process of production and project controlling did indeed exist, but the company was almost unable to give detailed information about the gross margin of individual products since there was no sound cost accounting in place. Some orders from within the ERP system were not accounted for at all or only in an incorrect way.
Al the necessary data and information was stored in a veritable jungle made from Excel charts and the company was divided into two profit centers, a production unit and a sales unit, which were depicted as two seperate companies (GmbH) in the ERP system.
These had to be consolidated by using Excel. My social skills and my many years of experience as an interim manager and a manager in general really proved to be of great use with regards to the following two points:
- on the one hand, it proved of use when I cooperated with the permanent commercial manager, who was indeed involved into the ERP project to 100%, but who remained present in day-to-day operations
- on the other hand, as the target date for the introduction of the new system approached, more and more employees from finance and accounting had to be involved in the project, which meant that they bore an additional burden and they almost had no capacity left to work on the day-to-day operations. I took on the task of motivating and supporting these employees, and although this was an additional responsibility, i found it to be a very important and gratifying task.
The Result achieved by the Interim Commercial Manager while introducing the new ERP
In my position as interim manager, which I occupied for 7 months, I made sure that the day-to-day operations in finance and accounting remained up and running, even though the employees were working at full capacity, as described above.
The monthly, quarterly and yearly financial statements were issued on time and in compliance with the requirements. Due to my many years of experience in manufacturing companies, I was able to guarantee that forecasts and budget plans were sound and issued on time.
The processes of project and production controlling were optimized insofar as they were successfully absorbed into the new ERP system SAP.
The introduction of the new system occurred on time, the company was satisfied with the work that the inteirm manager had done and the challenge of introducing the new ERP system was overcome.
Conclusion – Interim Commercial Manager and the ERP System is a true success!
Thanks to the support of our experienced interim manager, Armin Klein, who proficiently handled the day-to-day operations, the commercial manager was able to focus on the project task and the introduction of the new ERP system was a true success!
