“With sufficient liquidity, we ensure that our organisation always stay in full swing worldwide,” says Jonathan Schläpfer, Head of Treasury Operations at Würth Finance.
Jonathan, what does global cash management mean for the Würth Group?
One of the basic roles of Würth Finance as the central treasury unit is to safeguard the liquidity of the Würth Group so that all invoices at the Würth companies can be paid. The Treasury Operations department is responsible for the technical processing of all relevant transactions. In our decentralised corporate organisation, with over 400 companies in around 80 countries, cash management plays a central role.
We work in 26 currencies and take care of the successful processing of over 6,000 currency transactions with banks every year. That also includes ensuring connectivity to all banks. By working with the banks via automated processes, we minimise currency risks, make optimum use of liquid assets, and ensure transparency and efficiency. This enables us to operate even more effectively – entirely in the spirit of “Going farther together”.
How do you keep track of so many companies and currencies?
In Treasury Management at Würth Finance, all cash flows with the banks pass across our desk or screen. We ensure that these cash flows are processed securely and efficiently. We maintain bank accounts in the relevant currencies, usually directly in the country concerned. Sometimes I compare our work to running a railway system: as long as everything runs smoothly, the whole thing is perfect. But if a switch jams, it gets complicated and expensive. Thanks to our new cash management system, we can monitor the processes much more closely and know immediately where the problem lies.
A new IT system for cash management?
Yes, we went live with a new cash management system in August 2024 – a real milestone that we are proud of. It was a long process, real change management, but it was worth the effort. For example, we designed a new dashboard interface which provides a quick and up-to-date overview of all relevant information and problems.
A special innovation is that the system itself calculates which transfers are necessary – this is a very valuable function, especially with the many euro accounts we have with different banks. This rule-based system software has replaced the previous system and offers greater transparency, quality assurance and automation.
What challenges do you face in the near future?
Working with a banking partner, we have launched the implementation of a new multibank pooling system. This will enable us to further improve interest income as well as the automation of global cash management. We are also involved in a major ongoing project to modernise Würth Finance’s IT applications landscape. This will also have a major impact on our cash management systems and will ensure that we continue to run at full speed with our solutions in the future.
