IBM Corp. and Honda Motor Europe have reportedly signed a 5-year agreement in which the American tech giant will be integrating and managing the latter’s finance as well as procurement operations in the region.
The deal is intended to provide an integrated end-to-end solution that will assist Honda in increasing efficiency, lowering costs, standardizing processes throughout its European operations, and further putting it on track to achieve its “Zero Touch” vision.
The extension of this existing 10-year contract will provide IBM Global Business Services with more responsibilities for procurement operations. As a stable and fully integrated foundation, IBM intends to assist Honda's suppliers and customers in saving money, boosting productivity, and providing better service.
Joe Crump, General Manager, Business Administration at Honda Motor Europe, reportedly claimed the company intends to provide state-of-the-art financial as well as procurement operations. As a trusted working partner, IBM will provide immense expertise which will help Honda in making the required changes to adapt as per the industry’s challenges and new prospects.
Speaking of which, IBM will manage the Source-to-Pay, Record-to-Report, as well as Order-to-Cash processes, as per the deal. The standardization and simplification of processes are done to provide additional cost savings and improve the overall quality. Moreover, there will be a unified helpdesk with complete procurement and finance detail for improved efficiency as well as enhanced customer service.
Dave Miller, IBM's Managing Director for the Honda Global Account, stated that the company is pleased to provide its expertise to help Honda Motor achieve its objective. Dave also believes that their advanced services and intelligent workflow will improve the finance and purchasing options of Honda Motor Europe.
This deal comes at a crucial stage in the automobile industry's transition to a connected, autonomous, shared, and electrified future. Due to the surging transformation investments, back-office services have been under substantial pressure to increase efficiencies and adapt to meet changing business demands.
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