A people-focused approach to field service transformation
KPMG reconfigures Microsoft Dynamics 365 for a major oil company
A people-focused approach to field service transformation
KPMG reconfigures Microsoft Dynamics 365 for a major oil company
Client
A major U. S. oil producer
Industry
Energy, natural resources, and chemicals
Primary goal
Reimplement a stalled Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service deployment
Primary platforms
Microsoft Dynamics 365®
When an acquisition doubles your revenue in your largest market, there are some big numbers at play—especially when you’re a $48 billion CPG company. And the bigger the numbers, the bigger the impact of every strategic and tactical decision you make. You can’t afford to have your visibility clouded and your decision-making hampered by having two disparate financial operations functions each with its own systems, software, and people. So, when a global CPG company found itself in this situation, it called on KPMG to drive fast, smooth, cost-efficient integration of financial operations.
1
and global alignment between cross-functional teams
2
into consolidated spend driving meaningful insights and more proactive decisions
3
the monthly close cycle
4
revenue and sales forecasting
Key outcomes
Making a measurable difference
Estimated 2 percent to 5 percent
Operations expense savings from worker efficiency
Projected 1 percent to 5 percent
Gain in production volumes
Single asset launch
As the model for enterprise-wide transformation
Client transformation journey
Acquiring a large organic food and beverage business helped a global CPG company expand its operations and nearly double its revenue in the U.S. However, as with most mergers, the integration posed some challenges. Two disparate IT environments with different accounting and reporting models, separate enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, and multiple business intelligence (BI) tools required extensive manual intervention and offline data manipulation, preventing uniform reporting and analysis. Data was trapped in silos. Visibility was insufficient. A new CFO and the finance and accounting teams lacked the insight to support effective forecasting and both strategic and tactical decision-making. In a sector as competitive and fast-changing as food products, this company needed to increase visibility quickly.
Acquiring a large organic food and beverage business helped a global CPG company expand its operations and nearly double its revenue in the U.S. However, as with most mergers, the integration posed some challenges. Two disparate IT environments with different accounting and reporting models, separate enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, and multiple business intelligence (BI) tools required extensive manual intervention and offline data manipulation, preventing uniform reporting and analysis. Data was trapped in silos. Visibility was insufficient. A new CFO and the finance and accounting teams lacked the insight to support effective forecasting and both strategic and tactical decision-making. In a sector as competitive and fast-changing as food products, this company needed to increase visibility quickly.
While this CPG company’s business is spread across two continents (and originates from a number of acquired companies), its financial operations are now centralized and unified. A cloud-based platform extracts and loads data from numerous global sources, then configures and stores it in a central location. Accounting staff across multiple back offices work within a single governance structure and with a single set of streamlined processes, enabling effective reporting and supporting a swift, accurate close. Across the enterprise, visibility is excellent, and insights are at the ready, because analysts can perform real-time calculations and drill down swiftly to the meaning behind the numbers. Unified financial operations helps this $48 billion player predict accurately, plan effectively, and act swiftly—all crucial in a sector where windows of opportunity close as suddenly as they open.
While this CPG company’s business is spread across two continents (and originates from a number of acquired companies), its financial operations are now centralized and unified. A cloud-based platform extracts and loads data from numerous global sources, then configures and stores it in a central location. Accounting staff across multiple back offices work within a single governance structure and with a single set of streamlined processes, enabling effective reporting and supporting a swift, accurate close. Across the enterprise, visibility is excellent, and insights are at the ready, because analysts can perform real-time calculations and drill down swiftly to the meaning behind the numbers. Unified financial operations helps this $48 billion player predict accurately, plan effectively, and act swiftly—all crucial in a sector where windows of opportunity close as suddenly as they open.
There will be more acquisition targets in the company’s future. And with a cloud-based platform, governance framework, and standardized processes in place, integrating financial operations will be a swift, sure process. A successful integration inspired the CFO and global finance team to consider other areas for transformation. From evolving multiple layers of the target operating model within Finance, to jump-starting transformation across other functional areas, a powerful ripple effect began and continues across the enterprise. Having the right tools and processes to support a grander vision driven by meaningful insights will continue to empower positive change.
There will be more acquisition targets in the company’s future. And with a cloud-based platform, governance framework, and standardized processes in place, integrating financial operations will be a swift, sure process. A successful integration inspired the CFO and global finance team to consider other areas for transformation. From evolving multiple layers of the target operating model within Finance, to jump-starting transformation across other functional areas, a powerful ripple effect began and continues across the enterprise. Having the right tools and processes to support a grander vision driven by meaningful insights will continue to empower positive change.
Acquiring a large organic food and beverage business helped a global CPG company expand its operations and nearly double its revenue in the U.S. However, as with most mergers, the integration posed some challenges. Two disparate IT environments with different accounting and reporting models, separate enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, and multiple business intelligence (BI) tools required extensive manual intervention and offline data manipulation, preventing uniform reporting and analysis. Data was trapped in silos. Visibility was insufficient. A new CFO and the finance and accounting teams lacked the insight to support effective forecasting and both strategic and tactical decision-making. In a sector as competitive and fast-changing as food products, this company needed to increase visibility quickly.
While this CPG company’s business is spread across two continents (and originates from a number of acquired companies), its financial operations are now centralized and unified. A cloud-based platform extracts and loads data from numerous global sources, then configures and stores it in a central location. Accounting staff across multiple back offices work within a single governance structure and with a single set of streamlined processes, enabling effective reporting and supporting a swift, accurate close. Across the enterprise, visibility is excellent, and insights are at the ready, because analysts can perform real-time calculations and drill down swiftly to the meaning behind the numbers. Unified financial operations helps this $48 billion player predict accurately, plan effectively, and act swiftly—all crucial in a sector where windows of opportunity close as suddenly as they open.
There will be more acquisition targets in the company’s future. And with a cloud-based platform, governance framework, and standardized processes in place, integrating financial operations will be a swift, sure process. A successful integration inspired the CFO and global finance team to consider other areas for transformation. From evolving multiple layers of the target operating model within Finance, to jump-starting transformation across other functional areas, a powerful ripple effect began and continues across the enterprise. Having the right tools and processes to support a grander vision driven by meaningful insights will continue to empower positive change.
Poor visibility threatened business objectives.
Acquiring a large organic food and beverage business helped a global CPG company expand its operations and nearly double its revenue in the U.S. However, as with most mergers, the integration posed some challenges. Two disparate IT environments with different accounting and reporting models, separate enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, and multiple business intelligence (BI) tools required extensive manual intervention and offline data manipulation, preventing uniform reporting and analysis. Data was trapped in silos. Visibility was insufficient. A new CFO and the finance and accounting teams lacked the insight to support effective forecasting and both strategic and tactical decision-making. In a sector as competitive and fast-changing as food products, this company needed to increase visibility quickly.The preconfigured assets and technology accelerators delivered by KPMG Powered Enterprise let ambitious leadership teams take advantage of embedded leading practices to speed up the decision-making process while instilling confidence.
Unified financial operations support global success.
While this CPG company’s business is spread across two continents (and originates from a number of acquired companies), its financial operations are now centralized and unified. A cloud-based platform extracts and loads data from numerous global sources, then configures and stores it in a central location. Accounting staff across multiple back offices work within a single governance structure and with a single set of streamlined processes, enabling effective reporting and supporting a swift, accurate close. Across the enterprise, visibility is excellent, and insights are at the ready, because analysts can perform real-time calculations and drill down swiftly to the meaning behind the numbers. Unified financial operations helps this $48 billion player predict accurately, plan effectively, and act swiftly—all crucial in a sector where windows of opportunity close as suddenly as they open.
A strong foundation that can keep pace with continued growth.
There will be more acquisition targets in the company’s future. And with a cloud-based platform, governance framework, and standardized processes in place, integrating financial operations will be a swift, sure process. A successful integration inspired the CFO and global finance team to consider other areas for transformation. From evolving multiple layers of the target operating model within Finance, to jump-starting transformation across other functional areas, a powerful ripple effect began and continues across the enterprise. Having the right tools and processes to support a grander vision driven by meaningful insights will continue to empower positive change.
What makes KPMG different is our ability to give clients a range of knowledge and experience delivered by a single coordinated team. This engagement required a strong understanding of the oil and gas industry as well as deep experience with the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Enterprise Resource Planning platform. By listening closely to the client from the very beginning, we were able to assemble the right group of specialists to help meet their specific goals.
KPMG Advisory Managing Director, Platforms
Rob Moeller
Despite the unsuccessful first launch, the client understood that the Dynamics 365 Field Service application was the right solution for automating and connecting operations, so the need for an initial technology review and selection process was eliminated. The client’s basic goals were also already well-defined: to implement a scalable Microsoft Field Service foundation that would optimize routine, ad-hoc, and maintenance tasks for their production, maintenance, and reliability workers in the field.
The key to a more effective deployment would be to bring a “business value first” approach to the project by defining leading practices that would drive value for the business overall and then configuring Dynamics 365 to meet those objectives. It would also require prioritizing which field service tasks mattered most to employees and ensuring they worked well before adding other functions. Before the project began, our KPMG team spent weeks with the client’s Information Technology (IT) team to establish clear business objectives for the new deployment and review existing problems. Putting in this time at the start helped to build acceptance among management and local stakeholders as the project moved forward.
In designing and constructing a solution for the client’s initial unconventional asset, our team needed to balance specific local requirements with the broader goal of establishing a strong foundation that could be scaled and adopted more widely in the future. While focusing on the initial asset deployment, our team engaged with other regional assets, gathering requirements to inform design decisions for a scalable company-wide solution.
While the Dynamics 365 Field Service app can be used to connect and automate a wide range of activities, our team began by focusing on the most common recurring tasks at a single unconventional asset, such as routine inspections. The new configuration would allow field service workers to log onto the system to find their daily routes for recurring tasks across multiple locations; record their activities; and report leaks, malfunctions, or other relevant information.
Because recurring tasks tend to be numerous, frequently executed, and relevant to other activities, establishing strong performance on this function was a critical first step in our initial deployment. After that, our teams worked with IT managers in the client’s Houston offices and on-site personnel in the field office to design other key functions, such as routine maintenance, alarm responses, and ad hoc responses to problems found during inspections. The data gathered through these activities would also help on-site managers to anticipate possible problems or performance issues—such as lower-than-expected oil or gas flows—before they become serious enough to produce an alarm or cause a downtime event.
Combining the industry knowledge of the KPMG Energy, Natural Resources & Chemicals practice with the Dynamics 365 experience of our software platforms and implementation specialists let us create a solution that was tailored to the initial asset, but only lightly customized, and thus scalable to other locations.
Quick acceptance and tangible benefits
After nearly a year of work, the new Dynamics 365 Field Service application went live at the initial North American unconventional asset. Thanks partly to our early validation work with IT management and extensive testing and User Acceptance Training, employees were ready to accept the new system and impressed with its functionality. Key outcomes for the client included:
Ready for the next stage?
The successful redeployment at the initial unconventional asset has established a strong basis for developing a wider “Connected Field Worker” cloud-based platform across the client’s entire range of assets. KPMG continues to work with the client on related IT projects, but the decision to move forward with such a major enterprise-wide transformation may require greater support from senior management and other stakeholders.
Microsoft, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service, and Dynamics 365 are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.
The KPMG Energy, Natural Resources & Chemicals practice offers oil and gas clients the experience and knowledge to respond to changing market conditions and execute dynamic business strategies through digital transformation. Along with consulting services, we also bring industry-specific insights to tax and audit projects.
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A people-focused approach to field service transformation
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