MIKI TRAVEL
THE CHALLENGE
To help protect its margins, Miki Travel wanted to gain a more granular view of its overheads — but its manual, spreadsheet-based reporting processes were complex, time-consuming and prone to error.
Miki Travel is an international group, with four divisions covering Japan, Asia, Europe and their e-commerce channel. To increase their cost-efficiency, their parent company wanted them to be able to analyse costs at the division and function level.
Achieving this goal required Miki Travel to allocate operating costs for approximately 40 departments, some of which support multiple divisions. They realised that driving the allocations process in spreadsheets would be an arduous process.
THE SOLUTION
Miki Travel worked with InfoCat to implement an advanced planning and forecasting solution based on Cognos Express TM1 from IBM — enabling it to allocate costs quickly and accurately to each of its divisions.
THE BENEFITS
- Enables accurate, highly detailed cost allocation
- Saves three days at month-end
- Helps identify and drive new cost-efficiencies
ABOUT MIKI TRAVEL LIMITED
Founded in 1967, Miki Travel Limited is the UK arm of the international Miki Travel group, and one of the largest and most experienced wholesale tour operators in Europe. Employing more than 400 people, the company continues to expand its network to provide direct service contact in an ever widening range of destinations.
MARSHALL MOTOR HOLDINGS
Marshall Motor Holdings is a top 10 UK motor dealer group. The Group operates 103 franchise dealerships throughout England and represents 24 brands. They turn over in excess of £2.1bn per annum.
InfoCat worked with Marshall to implement TM1 during 2016. Here's what their Finance team have to say about InfoCat and their TM1 application.
“InfoCat has delivered on all promises during the TM1 implementation as well as reacting at short notice when project priorities changed. Communication between InfoCat team members is seamless meaning development can be easily passed around the team leading to faster response times.”
Mark Raban, Chief Financial Officer
“Just as we kicked off the TM1 implementation project we embarked on a significant strategic acquisition which limited the availability of key resources. InfoCat recognised the split priorities we were facing and with their support and flexibility we were still able to have the system available for key milestones e.g. budget planning.”
Mark Leeder, Head of FP&A
ABOUT MARSHALL MOTOR HOLDINGS PLC
Marshall Motor Holdings is a top 10 UK motor dealer group. The Group operates 103 franchise dealerships and represents 24 brands across 25 counties in England. Turnover is in excess of £2.1bn per annum.
GO-AHEAD GROUP
Since it was founded almost three decades ago, Go-Ahead has grown to become one of the UK’s leading providers of passenger transport, enabling more than a billion journeys each year on its bus and rail services.
InfoCat has worked with Go-Ahead for many years, across the group's bus and rail operations. Here's what they have to say about InfoCat and their TM1 application.
"Can I just say what a pleasure it is to work with InfoCat. The project was completed on time with no overspend.
The positive attitude of your consultants was refreshing to see as was the un-ending patience of the team as we grappled with the requirements to ensure that we delivered the very best solution to meet the needs of our business.
We at Go-Ahead take seriously our visions and values of collaboration, trust and accountability and I saw those same traits with InfoCat.
I have no hesitation in recommending InfoCat as a partner to implement TM1 and I will certainly use them again in the future."
Husein Fazal, Group Head of Enterprise Systems
ABOUT GO-AHEAD GROUP
Go-Ahead is one of the UK’s leading public transport providers enabling more than a billion journeys each year on its bus and rail services.
AFH WEALTH
AFH WEALTH MANAGEMENT
As one of the largest groups of Independent Financial Advisers in the Midlands, with over 160 qualified Advisers, AFH Wealth Management offer a wealth of experience across the financial spectrum.
AFH chose InfoCat to deploy TM1 for a clearer insight into their trading performance. Here's what they have to say about InfoCat’s TM1 application.
"InfoCat were a pleasure to work with. From the outset they worked collaboratively with us and made sure they understood our business needs. Their positive approach, knowledge of finance and experience of TM1, ensured a smooth and fast deployment.
The solution has enabled us to bring forward our reporting timetable dramatically and focus on the key cost variances within our business. The system has given us a much clearer insight into our trading performance which has allowed us to plan, budget and forecast with a greater degree of confidence than ever before.
Their mentoring approach has ensured our finance team has been able to take ownership of the application enabling us to be almost completely self-sufficient. When we do need help or advice, InfoCat's support desk has been very responsive and is an invaluable resource."
Jon Sturgess, Group Financial Controller
UK UNIVERSITY CLIENTS
THE CHALLENGE
Our University clients wanted to optimise their resource planning, but with fluctuating student numbers and diverse data streams across different colleges and campuses, this proved a difficult and complicated process. They needed accurate, real-time data taken directly from their planning models, and a more efficient financial planning process — but their manual, spreadsheet-based reporting processes were disconnected, labour intensive and wasteful.
THE SOLUTION
Our University clients worked with InfoCat to implement advanced planning and forecasting solutions based on IBM Planning Analytics. This harmonised their different, individual planning models into a single, holistic view of the entire planning process. As a result, data flows automatically between the student planning and staff planning models, ensuring accurate information in real time.
THE BENEFITS
- More confidence in numbers
- Accelerated budgeting cycles and planning processes
- Easier to analyse and interrogate data
- Reliable forecasts
- Easier to link planning with strategy, to make prudent long term decisions
ABOUT OUR UNIVERSITY CLIENTS
Several UK Universities have chosen InfoCat to develop their planning models and implement their performance management solutions. We have a mix of clients using on-premises solutions, mixed, and fully managed SaaS environments.