Celosphere 2022: BSH Appliance Group optimizes working capital with process excellence

BSH Appliance Group has deployed Celonis for multiple processes to optimize working capital and free cash flow as it navigates demand fluctuations, supply chain disruptions and inflation. 

Speaking at Celosphere 2022, Martin Seidel, Head of Business Efficiency at BSH Appliance Group, outlined how the company scales process excellence to improve working capital and other business functions. 

BSH Appliance Group has a number of brands including Bosch, Siemens, Gaggenau, Thermodor and the HomeConnect platform. The company's product portfolio ranges from ovens to dishwashers to refrigerators and small appliances. 

Seidel explained that BSH Appliance Group's Global Competency Center is the accelerator for business efficiency and features experts bridge the gap between IT and business to implement Celonis globally. 

The general approach for BSH Appliance Group is to select representative pilot projects to create standard use cases. From there, BSH Appliance Group rolls out use cases globally. 

BSH Appliance Group has implemented Celonis for a host of processes including Procurement, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Inventory Management, Order-to-Delivery, Order Management, Customer Service and Hire-to-Retire. 

Seidel's presentation focused on working capital improvement projects that improve cash flow and help BSH Appliance Group navigate inflation, supply chain disruptions and fluctuations in demand. Celonis is used for standard reporting as well as analyzing root-cause analysis and optimizing processes. 

For instance, Celonis is used in accounts payable to compare contracts vs. reality as well as early supplier payments. For inventory, Seidel said Celonis is used to optimize throughput times with production materials and finished goods. On the accounts receivables end of the spectrum, Celonis is used to optimize customer late payments as well as contract terms. 

BSH Appliance Group's inventory use cases with Celonis covers more than 40 factories, 70,000 materials and more than 50 million moved pieces. 

Seidel said that BSH Appliance Group is now implementing Celonis EMS Action Flows to provide signals about transportation times that deviate from data stored in SAP as well as storage overruns. When BSH Appliance Group brings each location and unit to the current average throughput level it'll free up to  €100 million in free cash flow. 

Larry Dignan

Editor in Chief (former)

Larry Dignan is the former Editor in Chief of Celonis Media. Before joining Celonis, he was Editor in Chief of ZDNet and has covered the technology industry and transformation trends for more than two decades, publishing articles in WallStreetWeek.com, Inter@ctive Week, The New York Times, and Financial Planning magazine.