Pulat Yunusmetov has been the main driver of the digitisation and automation projects at Danone and despite his heavy schedule he always looks for new areas to learn and improve.
Since joining Danone, less than two years ago, he has delivered the following projects:
- Kyriba implementation – the rollout in Asia significantly decreased the operational workload across the region, delivering visibility, transparency and security of treasury flows. Automating repetitive tasks has saved 10-15% time which is now used for more strategic tasks. Total time saved is more than 50,000 minutes per year. Other benefits include instant availability of data for liquidity optimisation.
- Automation of FX deals execution via TMS – an initiative to streamline and standardise Danone’s FX operations across the region. Achieved in less than six months, the FX execution process is now fully automated from end-to-end. By centralising, the team saves at least 3,000 minutes per year on execution alone. Standardised and automated reporting brings additional savings of at least 10,000 minutes per year. Improvements due to instant, automated pricing bring savings of at least US$150,000.
- Automation of deposit reporting via Kyriba – implemented to ensure daily visibility over liquidity positions. Since most of the entities in the region hold high liquidity across the year, ensuring optimised cash placements was key. By leveraging available cash forecasting and positioning modules in the TMS, daily visibility of the entire liquidity position is now available. During the first six months, placement efficiency rates increased by 30-40% and additional monthly income of US$225,000-280,000.
- Centralised bank access management and relationship standardisation – an ongoing project across the region to leverage the long-term cooperation with Danone’s core banks. It aims to deliver best in class solutions to each business located in eight different markets in Asia. Standardisation of bank fees led to SG$30,000 savings on an annual basis.
Pulat demonstrates a dedication to treasury by finding ways to improve processes and bring value-add to the team and the company. All the projects handled by him evidence strong time and stakeholder management. He is results-oriented, aligns his targets with the global and regional objectives of Danone and supports local colleagues in all aspects of treasury operations and processes. He takes responsibility for his projects and ensures successful and on-time delivery. Despite being very analytical and detailed, he looks at things from a strategic point of view and aligns with the company’s vision and mission.
He has brought new perspectives in the way he looks at the treasury set-up and has delivered significant value to Danone overall and to the treasury function specifically. Danone has ultimately improved regional visibility, control over its overall cash positions and enhanced its risk and cyber-security awareness through his dedication.
Prior to joining Danone, Pulat has had experience in the oil and gas sector and with a fintech company; a unique combination which he has brought, along with his determination, to Danone. This has been evidenced through the various initiatives and positive outcomes mentioned above and makes him a worthy winner of the Adam Smith Awards Asia 2020 A Rising Star award.
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