When Mercedes-Benz and Daimler Truck underwent corporate demerger, unprecedented challenges emerged in establishing an autonomous treasury function. Rather than pursuing incremental improvements, cost efficiency requirements, legal mandates and operational necessities drove the decision for a complete treasury transformation.

Legal requirements mandated system separation from Mercedes-Benz following the corporate split. Yet treasury operations remained dependent on the former parent company’s infrastructure despite this separation, creating anti-trust compliance risks and constraining Daimler Truck’s ability to implement processes suited to its commercial vehicle business.

Resource constraints further complicated matters. Following the demerger, treasury personnel shrank dramatically – operating at approximately just one-third of previous capacity. Such a lean structure demanded enhanced operational efficiency to fulfil comprehensive responsibilities with far fewer staff members.

Legacy technology presented another significant obstacle. The Wallstreet Suite (WSS) system proved excessively complex and costly for Daimler Truck’s more modest treasury needs. The team aptly nicknamed their project ‘NUTS’ [New Uncomplicated Treasury System], reflecting their determination to implement a simpler, more intuitive solution.

Migration logistics posed extraordinary challenges. With over 30,000 transactions requiring transfer – each potentially carrying 50-60 associated cash flows – manual processes simply weren’t viable. Fundamental differences between WSS and the new treasury management system, FIS Quantum, necessitated extensive customisation of data mapping since each system handled financial instruments differently.

Finally, compliance considerations added another layer of complexity. Given significant reconciliation error risks and strict audit requirements, an automated approach became essential for data conversion, migration, archiving and migration testing. Any solution needed to be audit-proof, repeatable for testing purposes and minimally disruptive to business teams already stretched thin. Time-constraints further intensified pressure. The project team established an ambitious 18-month implementation window – remarkably brief for a transformation of such magnitude and complexity.