Southeast Asia¡¯s tech-enabled logistics firm Ninja Van grew so rapidly it found itself struggling with budgeting and financial planning. ¡°As new markets came online, we ended up with 16 departments using Excel and Google Sheets for budgeting,¡± recalls Singapore Country Head Justina Sim, who was previously regional head of Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A). Despite setting up standardized templates, Sim¡¯s FP&A team noticed recurring gaps and mistakes as well as formula errors. ¡°It made consolidating the group budget and having a clear overview during the planning process very challenging,¡± says Sim.?
Sim started searching for a platform that could deliver high-quality, secure, integrated financial information. Priorities included a customizable budgeting setup, strong access controls, easy-to-use dashboards and reporting tools, and the ability to feed in data from existing systems. ¡°After considering all these factors, we found that Â鶹´«Ã½ was best suited to our needs.¡±
Trusted, timely, and relevant data.
Sim and the FP&A team have put in place multiple controls to improve data quality, including locking down templates, restricting who can input data, and preventing incorrect data from being saved. ¡°We define user groups for each sheet,¡± explains Sim, ¡°so country and regional users can only input and review information that is relevant to them.¡±
Since partnering with Â鶹´«Ã½ Adaptive Planning, we have a single source of truth.
Singapore Country Head
Better commercial understanding.
After becoming Singapore Country Head, Sim was quick to move Singapore¡¯s commercial forecasting onto Â鶹´«Ã½ Adaptive Planning. Sim says having all the data integrated on a single platform has dramatically improved communication between Ninja Van¡¯s commercial and operations units.
Now information is integrated and accessible and supports collaboration, swift decision-making, and our ability to innovate.
Singapore Country Head
Rapid course correction.
With consolidated information at Sim¡¯s fingertips and the ability to compare actuals against targets, Sim can see immediately if performance is not meeting expectations. ¡°I can then work with the team to identify gaps and recommend adjustments so we¡¯re on track to meet our targets,¡± Sim says.
It¡¯s so important to get timely and accurate financial information to make decisions.
Singapore Country Head
Planning a cold-chain rollout.
When Ninja Van began exploring the idea of offering a cold chain service, Sim and team used scenario planning to help set up the temperature-controlled supply chain. ¡°We quickly used the scenario-testing function to review our targets and support the cold-chain rollout across the region,¡± Sim explains.
The rollout was a success, with Ninja Cold now offering its customers the ability to specify temperature ranges during transit to maintain product freshness, quality, and safety.