A former subsidiary of ArcelorMittal, taken over
in 2019 by the German company Mutares, then
lately by LiCap GmbH, TrefilUnion is specialized
in wire products. Charles Toutain, its CEO,
retraces FiveForty°’s intervention in a context
as tense as a steel wire
First of all, could you talk to us about your activity sector and specificities of the company?
Charles Toutain: As its name indicates, TrefilUnion is
specialized in the manufacturing of steel wire and stranded
products for a great variety of applications. Our products are
destined, from the auto industry, construction, energy,
infrastructure to household appliances. We manufacture just
as well fine springs for vehicles and heavy products for bridges
and prestressed steels.
What is the context of the intervention by FiveForty°?
CT: Originally, with the previous integrator, we had set out to
configure as a priority the entirety of the finance part. The goal
was to be full and ready for the changeover in a later instance
of the operations part. But, to use a euphemism, it did not go
very well…
“The wrong configuration”
For what reason?
CT: It’s more like a group of reasons. Among these, the
insufficient involvement of a financial director who let the
integrator freewheel on the configuration. Later, in January
2020, there was a partial live rollout without the operations part.
Then, the Covid arrival delayed the rollover to October, much
later than scheduled. We didn’t have a choice as we had to be
disconnected from ArcelorMittal’s ERP by October 1st, and thus
be autonomous, both on the operations part and the finance
portion.
At a point in time, the situation became complicated
CT: As best as we could, we had started at the same time with
operations and finance. But the finance teams did only react at
the end of October to the modules put in place a year earlier.
Result: general panic! The first monthly close-outs were turning
out catastrophically with, in addition, shareholders who were
demanding preliminary results.
How did you come to hire FiveForty°?
CT: We had first worked with Maciré to reconnect with the
finance part. He was doing good work, matching alright with
the team and our CFO. We thought that as knew the context,
Maciré could well be the man of the hour without having to
start over from scratch. At the time we thought he had been
put in place by the first integrator. I later came to know that
Maciré was a FiveForty° finance consultant. We then gave to
FiveForty° the entire sub-contracting operation.
What balance would draw from their intervention?
CT: Everything unfolded perfectly. I do note that the business
knowledge of FiveForty° is absolutely real. And in passing, that
is rather rare with the integrators!
What do you appreciate the most with their services?
CT: They took over on the fly a situation and proved, beyond
their reactivity, they possess functional and technical
competences that reassured everybody. They were drafted on
short notice, the rose to the challenge. All the while playing nice
with the integrator already in place.
“Future Projects”
To mention FiveForty what would you say?
CT: I would say they embody well their motto “to give users
back their trust in the ERP tool”. And this, even in the most
critical situations.
How FiveForty° stand out from the other BTCs [Business and Technology Consultants]?
CT: They knew how to mark their identity by a concentration
of finance competences in their teams as well as a Power BI offer that truly makes them stand out from the rest.
On what other matters could you call on FiveForty° in the future?
CT: I presently manage several companies and do not have
enough time temps to go get the data in the system to extract
the daily dashboards. I am therefore contemplating to
implement Power BI. I know they have this mastery of the tool
and that they will support us with a dedicated team.
