Integrated Financial Planning at DR. KADE
The vision of the independent family business DR. KADE is to improve the quality of life for people all over the world and to motivate them to take responsibility for their own health. And that's precisely what it has been doing, day after day, for 135 years. In this context, the medium-sized pharmaceutical manufacturer has always relied on quality made in Germany. Its main areas of expertise include gynaecology, proctology, gastroenterology, nutrition and dermocosmetics. DR. KADE is constantly developing its product range for a strong and healthy future. This is ensured by an excellently trained team of over 300 employees at its Berlin site, where DR. KADE develops, manufactures and distributes pharmaceuticals and health products for Germany and the international market.
Driver-based management
Corporate Planner contributes to the success of the business as a central financial planning solution. When planning sales volume and turnover, for instance, DR. KADE carries out simulations involving a variety of discounts, bonuses and cash discounts for products on distribution channels. The effects of the adjustments on the net turnover in the selected time span can be consolidated as a scenario immediately after input, and the impact on the overall plan can be modelled. These real-time simulations are used during price negotiations with customers.
To keep track of the complex value chain, DR. KADE depicts its business model in terms of value drivers and performance targets. Within this driver model, the focus of the derived financial planning is on three system applications. The ERP system supplies all the historical data, such as for order processing, materials management, production and financial accounting. From these data, the BI application Qlik Sense and the planning solution Corporate Planner retrieve the values of the actual dimension.
Decentralized planning in the cloud
The entire company-wide planning is done in Corporate Planner. While the finance department has full access, the other divisions access the tailor-made planning and report templates in their areas of responsibility via a customized web portal. DR. KADE has opted for the provisioning of Corporate Planner as a cloud service, which not only cuts the workload for its IT department, but also guarantees maximum availability and easy access for all stakeholders from any location and on any device.
From planning to data visualization and BI
The sales volume and turnover plan, as well as the marketing plan with the assignment to the cost units and distribution keys for allocating the costs to the individual brands, are produced in Corporate Planner Sales. To plan the cost centres, DR. KADE uses Corporate Planner Finance.
Corporate Planner synchronizes every hour with the BI system Qlik, which displays cross-departmental data in customized real-time dashboards. During planning periods, for instance, this means that DR. KADE always has contribution margin analyses at its disposal that are updated hourly.
Added value for the whole company
The benefit of planning with a decentralized cloud solution is clearest in the finance department, where the time-consuming tasks of merging, analysing and consolidating Excel templates for diverse cost centres are no longer necessary. Management information and evaluations become available in real time at the level of detail of the input, enabling the company to operate with agility in a dynamic environment.
