Introducing: Talga Group
Battery and advanced materials company, Perth-based Talga Group Ltd, is not only striving to enable the development of sustainable battery and consumer products but is also focused on its own sustainable growth. The ASX-listed group, founded in 2009, has operations in Australia, Sweden, Germany and UK, and is planning to scale up to commercial production. This required a similar scale up in Talga’s administrative functions.
Realising Talga’s future
Talga understood that to realise these ambitions, it would need to implement new finance and procurement processes, and technologies that embrace the latest best practice. This included automation of previously manual processes, ensuring continuity across the company’s global operations. Finance and Procurement also needed increased ability to efficiently provide transparent reporting for customers, stakeholders and regulators.
KPMG’s Powered Finance and Procurement was the answer
Talga needed industry-fit processes, as well as a mature ERP platform to support its current level of operations, while also preparing to seamlessly scale as global plans unfold. Talga reached out to KPMG for expertise to help make this happen.
From plan to implementation
KPMG was perfectly positioned to assist Talga using our Powered Finance and Procurement frameworks. Our team began with a discovery phase, getting to know how Talga’s Finance and Procurement functions worked, the daily responsibilities, pain points, and goals for future improvements. Then, using the Powered tools and methodologies, the team quickly found the right Target Operating Model (TOM), and sector-specific processes for Talga’s needs.
Finance and procurement technology that fits for the future: Maximising technology
Key to the strategy was of course finding the right supporting technology. Using our platform agnostic approach, we compared different leading software options to make sure the system chosen would deliver what was needed. It was important to balance Talga’s investment in technology today with an understanding of the potential future costs when scaling up to more users and unlocking more capability.
Talga selected SAP S/4HANA, largely due to its ability to enable the latest in finance and procurement processes and automation, advanced data and analytics capabilities, and seamless integration with other business functions. KPMG and SAP were chosen based on KPMG’s extensive industry experience, which is reflected in the pre-defined processes and system configuration.
Our team performed the system configuration, all based on Talga’s needs across areas including projects, finance, sales and material management. We constructed numerous test cases and test scripts based on identified business scenarios to make sure that the system was ready and robust for change. To ensure that Talga’s professionals could seamlessly transfer to the new system, we ran regular on-line SAP training sessions whilst offering onsite support for business users.
Working together
The KPMG and Talga teams worked closely throughout the engagement, making the most of daily checkpoints to track progress, particularly during remote working phases made necessary due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Mary Carmody, Management Accountant at Talga, commented that our team were willing to fix any problems that came up, and that everyone got through the challenging times with a positive attitude.
The practical knowledge, the unbiased presentation, and the inquisition into our processes, our needs and our business were excellent, KPMG challenged our people in the room and those from remote offices about what they really needed versus what they really wanted, and separated that to make logical decisions.
Scaling finance and procurement capability to support growth
Dean Scarparolo, Financial Controller and Company Secretary at Talga, said that the work done with KPMG was “absolutely vital to Talga fulfilling its potential”. Talga now has a best practice TOM for Finance and Procurement, documented processes that can be replicated globally, and the right supporting technology. Scarparolo adds that “Importantly, Talga has a system set to scale as the company grows.”
“We wouldn't be able to do what we need to do if that hadn't been solved. We’re a niche business – we are mining and manufacturing in a new space, we needed the support and functionality to go with that.”
Talga’s global Finance teams are looking forward to increasing the use of the SAP capabilities as their needs grow.
This successful transformation is just the start of what Talga and KPMG expect will be many projects executed together as Talga continues to grow across mining and refinery production globally.
Transform your finance department – KPMG can help
KPMG can help finance departments to create new value within their organisation by implementing the latest technology and leading practice. Powered Finance is the outcome-driven transformation solution that takes a pragmatic and proven approach to preparing your business for the future. This solution enables rapid transformation and aims to derive maximum value from your move to the cloud. With Powered Finance you can inspire and empower your people and partners to embrace change and transition to a new way of working.
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