NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OpenLink Financial LLC (OpenLink), the global leader in Transaction Lifecycle Management (TLM) software, announced today the release of a new Direct Spend Analytics and Forecasting (DSAF) solution. OpenLink’s DSAF offering, the latest in a series of solutions designed to improve the transparency of commodity exposure for Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies, was introduced in London at the World Procurement Congress on 19-20 May.
Globalization of production and procurement, together with the proliferation of big data across disparate systems, pose challenges to manufacturers of finished goods in obtaining a clear view of their direct spend. OpenLink’s DSAF solution provides end-to-end transparency into all points in the value chain, from the procurement of raw materials to the sale of finished goods. Key performance indicators (KPIs), which would otherwise take weeks to produce, are available in real-time with customizable dashboards for finance, risk management and procurement.
CFOs, procurement and plant managers, and heads of risk can manage the volumetric and financial risks associated with raw materials and packaging procurement using DSAF. The new solution will gather data from production forecasts and targets, manage recipes and bills of material, raw materials coverage, plan price and volume benchmarks, transactions, sale volumes and prices for finished goods sold, down to the stock keeping unit level.
“Having worked hand-in-hand with CPG companies to deliver deeper insight into their supply chain, we understand the need for improved transparency for commodity exposure,” said Dr. Mark Greene, CEO, OpenLink. “Our Direct Spend Analytics and Forecasting solution gives firms visibility into their total spend aggregated by finished good, raw commodity, ingredient or business unit. Advanced analytics can identify volumetric shortfall and manage price risk with integrated hedging.”
OpenLink’s solution helps procurement, finance, risk and plant management to measure organizational performance through dedicated KPIs, make decisions based on up-to-date metrics and then evaluates and predicts the impact of events on cash flow and budgets. Operational improvements are made by alignment of inventory and forward commitments with production forecasts and the deployment of more effective strategies to mitigate the impact of supplier failure.
About OpenLink
Founded in 1992, OpenLink (www.OpenLink.com) is the global leader in Transaction Lifecycle Management (TLM) software for the commodity, energy and financial services industries. OpenLink's products address portfolio management, trading, risk management, and operations processing for both financial and physical assets.
Owned by leading private equity investment firm Hellman & Friedman, OpenLink is a global software and services business that has grown both organically and through strategic acquisitions, to achieve revenues in excess of $300 million. The company serves over 500 clients, including 12 of the world's largest commodity and energy companies, 9 of the largest financial institutions, and 11 of the largest central banks. OpenLink has 1,300 employees in 12 global offices on five continents, with headquarters outside New York City and field offices in Houston, London, Berlin, Vienna, Toronto, Moscow, São Paulo, Singapore, Dubai, and Sydney.
OpenLink has received numerous industry awards and recognition, including citations as the industry leader by Gartner and first-in-class ranking by Energy Risk magazine for Commodity/Energy Trading and Risk Management (C/ETRM) systems.
