Ampleon Optimizes Financial Processes with OneStream for IPO Readiness

Ampleon is a worldwide leader in innovative, high-quality RF (radio frequency) Power technology. Ampleon is focused on exploiting the full potential of data and energy transfer in radio frequency. This technology is used for wireless infrastructure for mobile broadband, television, radio, industrial, scientific and medical applications, aviation and defense, as well as for heating/defrosting and plasma lighting applications. With a possible IPO, it is essential to the former business unit of NXP to establish a robust financial process. In a phased program, a fast and reliable information delivery is being realized using OneStream. The company has 16 locations, including its headquarters in Nijmegen, and employs approximately 1,650 people worldwide.

The innovative company wants to improve its financial information delivery. “We used Excel® for our financial consolidation. This was very manual driven, subject to errors and overly time-consuming. For a faster, more accurate and comprehensive view of the entire enterprise, you need a consolidation system,” says Harm Polman, Sr. Director Financial Planning & Analysis at Ampleon, about the reason to implement OneStream. After several demos, many positive reference calls, and a visit to OneStream’s Splash user conference – the team was convinced that OneStream’s unified CPM platform and MarketPlace solutions could meet their current and future needs. An ROI analysis projecting a lower cost of ownership for OneStream vs. the Hyperion suite also firmed up their decision to make the leap to OneStream. Preparing for Expected IPO One of the motivations for the optimization is the possible IPO of Ampleon. “We want to be able to consolidate more efficiently and reliably, especially given the possible IPO,” says Polman. In the context of investor relations, you need to have your reporting process in order. “We want to be able to provide our internal stakeholders with information faster and ensure it is reliable information, which will mainly constitute trust,” says Robin Whelan, Reporting Manager at Ampleon. “Once listed, we will face more and tighter deadlines and external information requirements. Then we must be able to produce ad hoc analysis faster.” Another reason is to reduce dependency. Polman says: “If one person does everything manually, and that person becomes ill or leaves the company, then you are very vulnerable. With standard processes and an off-the-shelf solution, creating backup becomes much easier.”

Optimizing the financial consolidation and reporting processes is the first phase in a broader program. “We approach this program in three phases. The first phase aims to increase the reliability of the reporting. This concerns reports to internal and external stakeholders, such as bank reports, reports to shareholders, and internally to management. The second phase is ‘management information’, where we want to spend less time on reporting and more on analysis. The third phase is ‘driver-based forecasting,’” says Polman. “Ultimately, we believe that every piece of information from finance should have a purpose.” Phase 1 (Reporting) is key in connection with the possible listing. But even without the listing, this is a logical sequence, Cammeraat says, “You must first ensure that you, as a team, know how to use the tool and that everyone — including the local users — starts working with it. In practice, we use such a project approach at many organizations; first, the mandatory consolidation, then gradually expanding to a strategic plan and driver-based forecasting.” Choosing OneStream’s Broad Platform The broad program is an important reason for choosing the OneStream platform. “We wanted an off-the-shelf and scalable system that helps us achieve our goal of automating our processes even further. Moreover, we wanted to integrate the entire process from validation to analysis into one system,” says Polman. Ampleon did not decide on a new corporate performance management (CPM) system overnight, as an earlier implementation of another consolidation system was unsuccessful. It is one of the reasons for working with Finext this time. “We asked Finext to help us in two areas: the tool selection process and the implementation,” says Polman. An important aspect was the fact that Finext is independent of software vendors. “Other parties often have a strong preference for one tool, while Finext has a broad tool knowledge and can provide independent advice,” Whelan says. Part of the tool selection process was a reference visit to Flow Traders, where Finext previously implemented OneStream. Polman and Whelan are enthusiastic about the progress of the project. “To the fullest satisfaction, both the standardization in the system and the implementation of the project. The organization’s training and support also went well,” they said.

• Unified platform for consolidation, forecasting, and reporting.
• Empowered local users to do their own analysis.
• Meeting tighter deadlines and external information requirements.
• Producing ad hoc analysis faster.
• Cut a lot of time spent managing and interpreting data.

• Reduced cost of ownership compared to the Hyperion suite.
• Increased speed of reporting.