Soletanche Freyssinet gets rid of pivot tables with the help of Finance Active

Put an end to time consuming and incomprehensible Excel tables. For an international Group with a 3 billion turnover, the management of 500 guarantees carried out by the holding can no longer be left to chance.

In 2014, the treasurers of the Group Soletanche Freyssinet were backed into a corner. « We were reaching the limits of the pivot table capacities to manage our guarantees. With a volume of more than 500 guarantees, the Excel file couldn’t answer our needs any longer. » remembers Alain Goupit, Soletanche Freyssinet’s Head of Treasury and Finance. Facing the demand from the executive management for detailed reports and the need to better anticipate the deadlines, the team of Alain Goupit began its search for a more efficient guarantees management solution.

The search for simplicity

In total, some 12 editors proposed Soletanche Freyssinet their management solution. But Alain Goupit had very specific criteria in mind. «We wanted a solution that could be deployed very fast, in Saas mode and user-friendly for every user profile », explains the finance and treasury director. Based on those citeria, Alain Goupit evaluated all tested tools and there was one that stood out: « The simplicity of use, pleasant graphics and the deployment in Saas mode made the Finance Active tool remarkable. We first had some doubts on the young age of the company but the many renowned references made those doubts rapidly disappear.» Explains the Head of Finance and Treasury.

From a passive management to an active guarantees control

Less than three months after this decision, the tool was already up and running. Next, some tailor-made developments have been effectuated to customize the tool to the specific needs of Soletanche Freyssinet. And the results were immediate. « We have won a considerable amount of time, not only when creating a new guarantee. We visualize, on one single screen, all the information relating to one guarantee, including attached files, without having to go through our paper files. This significantly facilitates our everyday work routine. We are now able to actively manage our portfolio, anticipating deadlines and creating monthly reporting. A great difference in comparison to the past, when we were victims of our own guarantees management », says Alain Goupit.

A three year collaboration with Finance Active

Since the deployment, the collaboration between Soletanche Freyssinet and Finance Active hasn’t slowed down. Beyond the continuous system improvements and customization, the relationship has strengthened: «The Finance Active experts succeeded to anticipate the slightest difficulty we could come across while using our guarantees management tool. Even before we have the time to report a problem, it has often already been resolved. Moreover, we are truly treated as individual clients with our own needs and specific expectations », ads the Finance and Treasury Director. Highly pleased with this collaboration, Soletanche Freyssinet carries on with the international deployment of Fairways Guarantees, in all subsidiaries of the group.

Business sector(s)
  • Construction, Engineering, Nuclear energy
Need(s)
  • Guarantee management
Solution(s)
  • Fairways Guarantees
Advantage(s)
  • A significant saving in time during day-to-day operations
  • An increased visibility of outstanding amounts
  • A solution easily deployed in every subsidiary
  • A data storage in securitized French data centers