To manage our Working Capital Requirements (WCR) more efficiently, Econocom has launched a new collaborative initiative. Coordinated by Nicolas de Lepinay and his team, it consists of a series of workshops attended by teams from different countries, and a better system for sharing data and best practices. The aim of the project is to optimize lease contract management and ensure a more consistent approach group-wide, in keeping with the spirit of “One Econocom”.
Econocom Stories : What’s the purpose of this WCR initiative?
Nicolas de Lepinay : The main objective is to align cash flows as much as possible in the time between purchasing equipment and leasing it. The idea is to reduce the gap between cash out and cash in. We also want to create a real community of teams from different countries so they can share best practices and solutions.
Econocom Stories : What sort of support have you been giving the countries for this?
Nicolas de Lepinay : We’ve organized a series of workshops – in September, November and another one scheduled for January. During the first workshop, we analysed the lifecycle of a contract to identify at which point we need to get involved and to find out how each country approaches things. Then each country presented some case studies, to give the others tips and inspiration. It’s not a top-down approach: we give them tools which they can then adapt to suit their local needs.
Econocom Stories : How will this benefit Econocom?
Nicolas de Lepinay : The main advantage will be that we’ll be able get more out of our data, so we can set targets with solid KPIs. This data will be crucial for negotiating effectively with our outside partners such as funders, and help our in-house teams adapt. By improving our “cash time”, we’ll be able to challenge the way we do things and make progress together.
