How transformation at Japan Tobacco created OneTreasury
Published: Sep 2024
Best Treasury Transformation Project
Highly Commended Winner
Japan Tobacco Inc
Photo of Krystian Swierk, Japan Tobacco Inc.
Vincent Delort
Treasury Director
The Japan Tobacco Group employs around 46,000 globally and is a leading global tobacco company whose products are sold in over 130 markets.
The challenge
Japan Tobacco wanted to combine its treasury functions with its international division, Japan Tobacco International. The group had three main treasury centres located in Japan, Switzerland and the Netherlands and it wanted to create a single operation that would usher in new synergies, streamline processes; create efficiency, risk mitigation and strategic advantages for the company. The group was particularly focused on enhancing global cash and liquidity management, and global FX management.
The solution
Japan Tobacco partnered with Zanders to create a new operating model and TMS based on a shared technology platform. The team chose SAP to support the treasury function, and the TMS was integrated into the SAP S/4HANA ERP system. Japan Tobacco was the first company to use SAP’s Multi Bank Connectivity (MBC) to local Japanese banks.
The global solution covered treasury operations at HQ level and at the local level in the company’s end markets where it has around 200 subsidiaries. The solution was also scalable in terms of the number of users, entities and transactions it could support. The new technology needed to enable the group’s 50,000 – 200,000 treasury transactions annually and invoice processing in 50 currencies. It also needed to pull together project members from Japan, Spain, Switzerland, Poland, Russia and the Netherlands.
With the new OneTreasury system, Japan Tobacco Group was aiming to:
Further align and standardise the treasury processes between Japan Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International.
Make the treasury processes more efficient.
Enhance the treasury processes, by improving global cash and liquidity management and global FX Management.
Enable an integrated governance and control environment.
Best practice and innovation
The transformation improved cash management and bank connectivity. It reduced risk by creating a consolidated cash position of all subsidiaries, improving visibility and executive reporting. Visibility was established by integrating the entire business into SAP and all treasury transactions being executed from one system.
The introduction of straight through processing, data validation rules and audit trail reduced errors and manual intervention. Moreover, automatic reconciliation, STP payments and self-service portals also cut manual intervention in the treasury processes.
The transformation also increased system connectivity by fully integrating treasury with the group’s main ERP system. It was also a future-proof solution since the architecture accommodates future growth and ensures compliance with changing regulations.
Key benefits
Cost savings.
Headcount savings.
Process efficiencies.
Return on investment (ROI).
Increased automation.
Risk mitigated.
Improved visibility.
Errors reduced.
Manual intervention reduced.
Increased system connectivity.
Future-proof solution.
Quality accreditation achieved.
Improved key performance indicator (KPI) metrics.
“The SAP treasury implementation is not just about numbers, but rather about empowering our treasury team with tools that enhance decision-making, mitigate risks and drive efficiency.”
Vincent Delort, Treasury Director
The Adam Smith Awards are the industry benchmark for best practice and innovation in corporate treasury. The 2024 awards attracted 389 nominations. To find out more please visit treasurytoday.com/adam-smith-awards
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