Mobility and automation processes

Toyota's great passion is mobility. It is, of course, important to make money, but the driving force lies somewhere completely different. Mobility in all its forms, responsibility to the environment, safety, and not least the group's strong set of values permeate the company.

Toyota is no longer a vehicle manufacturing company, but a mobility company helping the population move around. This has also changed the view of who their competitors are - today it's Google, Apple, and Microsoft. With Toyota as a global sponsor of the Olympic Games, you can for example see autonomous mobile units transporting the athletes.

All of this gives CFO Martin Tørnes a challenging and very interesting - though also difficult - time controlling Finance and adjusting the course to handle future activities. Therefore, processes and procedures must be automated to release employee time for better supporting the business rather than merely processing cases.

”We have really competent employees who have been here for many years and who know the procedures. So why change something that works? Cultural changes are alway difficult, but they are needed to meet the demands of the future," says Martin Tørnes about some of the challenges caused by the implementation of Adra Balancer and Adra Task Manager from Basico's CFO Toolbox.

But Martin Tørnes has tried it before, and he has two overriding tips for other CFOs who can also see the advantages of automating processes: Involve and include the employees! Involve them in most of the decisions that affect them. The entire success depends on their involvement.

It was Martin Tørnes' job to tell the employees why some processes were to be automated. He set the direction and then he placed himself on the outskirts of the decision process to avoid the choice becoming his and the employees feeling that the decision was forced upon them. Nemawashi! In Japanese this means to take the necessary measures during decision processes, and that's what Martin Tørnes is doing.

Employees in many companies recognise the procurement of software that ends up never being used. Martin Tørnes avoided this by taking one step back. The employees tested both Adra Balancer and Adra Task Manager and gave thumbs up. They instantly took ownership

Processing things by means of Adra Balancer and Adra Task Manager gives the employees time to help their colleagues in the organisation who request their assistance. The more support and assistance Finance can offer to the business, the more value Finance adds to the business.

”Getting the employees away from some of the transaction-based routines, systematizing things and processes so that they run smoothly release time so that they can start analysing the figures, understand them better, and put that knowledge and understanding to use in the business," says Martin Tørnes.

To him, the worst thing would be if the Finance employees were hidden behind their desks and computers and were not visible at all. The automation of routine tasks leaves room to focus on the tactical tasks in the organisation ... analyses, knowledge, and helping to define business forecasts and processes.

In Toyota as in other companies, the employees' training working with Adra Balance and Adra Task Manager works best when they are merely using it by temselves.

”When it's been necessary to contact Basico, help has been fast and a consultant has been prepared to help us at any time," says Martin Tørnes.

Therefore, it's also important to Basico to be ready when help is needed.

”We want the customers to feel that they've made the right decision about the choice of solution and of partner. The customers know that when they call us for support, they don't get IT professionals on the phone; our employees' background is in finance or compliance, and this means that - when the customers are faced with a challenge - Basico can ask more about the business-related challenges that are often not IT-related. Our consultants understand the CFO's business areas and speak the same language," says Senior Partner Morten Bille from Basico.

Martin Tørnes' wish to release the employees so that they can spend their time supporting the business is one thing, but quite another thing is whether reality can keep pace. That's why the first priority from a compliance perspective has been to make Balancer run 100 per cent. Subsequently, Adra Task Manager has been added in connection with the month-end closing. The base is Balancer that ensures the necessary digitalisation, whereas Adra Task Manager offers a possibility of getting an overview of the processes - who does what when.

”Clous-based IT systems are never fully developed. Basico is a major partner in Denmark for the software producer Adra with whom we collaborate closely and vis-a-vis we have great influence, so naturally we consider input from our customers as potential for improvement," says Morten Bille.

Today, Toyota has a shared service centre i Poland that is not included in the process - yet. But Martin Tørnes is convinced that it'll happen. Already now, several employees in Poland need to access the system and insert items in Adra Task Manager.

”So, in Poland it'll also be a good system because we can keep track of the process continuously, where we are in the process, and who has outstanding issues. It has also helped me get a fast overview because I can access the web from any device and see where we are," says Martin Tørnes.

Another benefit is the distinct reduction of the risks related to terminating employees. When an employee leaves the company, he or she does not leave with the knowledge as well because it's embedded in Adra Task Manager. It also makes it easy for interim and new employees to get acquainted with the tasks fast so that they can deliver from day one.

Martin Tørnes looks forward to the day when everybody in Finance is so experienced with Adra Task Manager that they can sell the idea to other departments and functions in the business. It is, after all, not only Finance that can benefit from automated processes. It's a strong system that can be used throughout the company.

The more we are working with it, the more we can advocate applying it to some of the ongoing projects in the company. There are some obvious tasks, such as some marketing processes," Martin Tørnes says.

Currently, Toyota still has a great unleashed potential as regards the Adra Task Manager part - for example when it comes to auditing where it is now possible to only insert information in one's own system, whereafter the auditors can access the information at Toyota. That's at the top of the to-do list.

Asked about more digitalisation initiatives, Martin Tørnes has no doubt that robotics will be the next step. Not only in Finance, but it would be a really obvious place to start.

Adra Balancer

• Complete control of the balance sheet reconciliation
• Overview in realtime
• Tools making it easy to comply with the legislation
• Increased productivity
• A faster month-end closing process and risk elimination.

Adra Task Manager

• A streamlined closing of the accounts
• Streamlined accounting and business processes
• Software making it easy to design, construct, and manage processes.

Since the establishment of Toyota Motor Corporation in 1937, the company has grown and now has 340,000 employees in 160 countries and regions. Toyota came to Denmark in 1963 and the European headquarters is located in Brussels.

Toyota is a family-owned company, and the current President of Toyota, Akio Toyoda, is the third generation and the grandchild of the founder, Kiichiro Toyoda.

In addition to vehicles, Toyota develops construction projects and IT, manufactures industrial equipment and ships, does research in biotechnology and forestry, and is focused on the robot technology of the future. Toyota is passionate about mobility and is one of the company worldwide that spends most money on research and development to be able to offer mobility for all needs.

In the recent accounting year, Toyota had a global surplus after tax of DKK 143 billion, and worldwide the group had a turnover of almost DKK 1,700 billion.

A central, long-term goal is to have reduced Toyota's CO2 emission to zero by 2050 throughout the production chain.

Therefore, things may have changed since the publication of our articles - the participants may have moved on to another job, and the world may have been turned upside down by American presidents, Chinese bats, and other change agents - you get the point. Nevertheless, we hope that you'll read our articles and maybe even be inspired by them.