Rolling out new software at group level is demanding: subsidiaries in different countries with different framework conditions and languages should benefit from a uniform system. With the introduction of otris software for the management of contracts and corporate documents, Vibracoustic has managed a group-wide IT project. The company benefits from transparency gains and process streamlining.
Initial situation in contract management.
Vibracoustic is an international group employing around 10,000 people at 43 locations in 19 countries worldwide. Before the introduction of the special software otris contract, each group company managed contracts and corporate documents with different stand-alone IT solutions. This not only made access to information difficult, but also limited efficiency improvements through uniform process flows.
Ambitious goals
With the introduction of the new otris software, the group’s legal department initiated a project for company-wide standardisation in contract management in order to achieve the following goals:
“The basic technical requirement for achieving our ambitious goals was clear: a uniform software system for contract management throughout the group,” explains Dr Meinhard Bartsch, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Vibracoustic. “With otris, we have found the right provider for our project”.
Contracts and corporate documents
Vibracoustic opted for the combined use of the contract management software otris contract and the investment management software otris corporate. The combination simplifies the management of all contracts from the operational business (e.g. leasing contracts, supplier contracts, project contracts) and all corporate documents (e.g. M&A documents, meeting minutes, NDAs). Even though the range of document types is large – each document can be quickly sorted into the designated digital file and thus also quickly retrieved.
This is made possible by the clear structure of the software: the system depicts the group with all its subsidiaries as a file plan and also as an organigram. The organigram shows the interconnectedness of the individual group companies and simplifies navigation. After clicking on a company, the user can choose whether he wants to have the contracts from the operative business or the corporate documents displayed. The documents of both categories are structured according to a uniform standard for each company.
In practice
The system is used by Vibracoustic companies worldwide. The responsible employees in the specialist departments access the system via their user accounts in order to research information and maintain the data and documents. By means of authorisation settings, each user only sees the data and documents that are relevant to him or her. The management at the head office has a complete overview of all contracts and corporate documents. This simplifies the evaluation of contract contents and risk management based on them. Also greatly simplified: the contract creation and approval procedures. The integrated clause management speeds up the preparation of contract templates. In a downstream process, a draft contract is routed through the company for editing and approval according to predefined criteria. “The contract editing and approval process is a centrepiece of the new contract management system,” Dr Meinhard Bartsch clarifies the relevance. “We are working on continuously improving and refining the processes. During the implementation of each new workflow component, otris consulting supports us competently and with great commitment,” the lawyer summarises the cooperation with otris.
About Vibracoustic
Vibracoustic is a leading global NVH expert for the automotive industry, providing tailor-made solutions that offer more comfort while contributing to efficiency, safety and durability. Expertise across the entire product lifecycle and all vehicle systems, as well as its broad product range, enable Vibracoustic to solve current and future NVH challenges across all vehicle segments. With more than 10,000 employees at 43 production and development sites in 19 countries, Vibracoustic serves all major automotive manufacturers. In 2019, Vibracoustic achieved a turnover of 2.1 billion euros
Picture credits:
The photos used (banner, quote) were kindly provided by Vibracoustic AG.