For over a decade, MANN+HUMMEL treasury has been using the TIS cloud platform to control their bank account management, global payments, and connectivity functions. Passing the 10-year mark in this relationship is the perfect opportunity to reflect on a journey marked by continuous technological advancement, innovation, and mutual trust.
In this article, Saboor Seddiqi, Key Account Manager at TIS and Mario Parrotta, Group Treasury & Risk Manager at Mann+Hummel explore what has made their collaboration so successful. Notice: The original version of this article first appeared in the TIS Quarterly Magazine: Summer Edition 2024.
For Context: About MANN+HUMMEL
MANN+HUMMEL is a leading global company in filtration technology. Under its two business units Transportation and Life Sciences & Environment, the German-based Group develops intelligent filtration and separation solutions that enable cleaner mobility, cleaner air, cleaner water, and cleaner industry. Thus, the company makes an important contribution to a clean earth and the sustainable use of limited resources. In 2023, over 22,000 employees at more than 80 locations generated a turnover of EUR 4.7 billion.
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The portfolio comprises fuel, oil and air filters for combustion engines and industrial applications, filtration solutions for electric and hydrogen powered vehicles, simulation technologies and filter media, as well as membrane technologies for municipal and industrial water and wastewater treatment. Furthermore, the family-owned company, founded in 1941, offers air and molecular filtration technologies for vehicle interiors, building filtration, as well as industrial applications and cleanrooms.
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“About 10 years ago, our then-CFO asked the Head of Treasury: ‘How many bank accounts do we have world-wide?’ It turned out—we didn’t have a clear answer.”
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SABOOR SEDDIQI, Key Account Manager at TIS
Mario, how did your Treasury transformation with TIS begin back then?
MARIO PARROTTA, Group Treasury & Risk Manager at MANN+HUMMEL
I can start with an anecdote: About 10 years ago, our then-CFO asked the Head of Treasury: ‘How many bank accounts do we have world-wide?’ It turned out—we didn’t have a clear answer.
Our overview was Excel-based and was perhaps updated once a year by being sent “around the world”. So, the directive was: Implement a system that provides full and always up-to-date visibility and allows you to track who has banking authorizations for which accounts, where are all the open accounts globally, and so on. It was also important that the headquarter should be involved in the process of opening or closing bank accounts in the future.
SABOOR SEDDIQI
In this context, it’s interesting to note that in our conversations with various companies, we often hear that the issue is not only the lack of visibility over bank accounts but in particular the transparency on bank authorizations. Without a central system and a super-user approach, individuals who left a company long ago are often still listed as authorized on the bank’s side. Managed locally and across different eBanking tools, a central overview is completely missing.
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“Without a central system and a super-user approach, individuals who left a company long ago are often still listed as authorized on the bank’s side. Managed locally and across different eBanking tools, a central overview is completely missing.”
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MARIO PARROTTA
Exactly. This was also one of our more challenging issues, but we have now resolved it. We implemented a quarterly process with TIS, where we cross-checked the HR list of people who had left the company. If colleagues at a local entity hadn’t kept in mind to set the necessary changes, we could then directly make them in TIS. This was much more efficient than before, when local systems still had eBanking users listed. But since we now also have Single-Sign-On (SSO) in TIS, we have completely eliminated this issue: As soon as a person leaves the company, the Windows user is deactivated, and they can no longer log into TIS.
SABOOR SEDDIQI
TIS was only founded 2 years earlier when MANN+HUMMEL decided to manage their bank accounts with us. You mentioned in our preliminary talk that master data and workflows were key topics for you.
MARIO PARROTTA
Yes, one of our main requirements was the workflows in the platform. We wanted a company-wide two-step procedure, where accounts are only requested from banks after approval has been given in TIS. Only then should contact be made with the bank and the account opened. TIS customized and refined all this for us to fit perfectly.
SABOOR SEDDIQI
As the next step, you then also moved payments to TIS.
MARIO PARROTTA
Exactly. The first payment was processed via TIS at the beginning of 2016 with our pilot entity. By then, TIS had already been in regular use with us for over 2 years. The company and people out there already knew TIS, so it was a logical step for us to build on that. With TIS, we had good master data and functioning processes. Of course, we also looked at other tools, as required by procurement. But TIS totally convinced us back then. The functionality perfectly matched our requirements.
SABOOR SEDDIQI
What was a particularly important aspect for you here?
MARIO PARROTTA
One of the big drivers was the issue of formats. We primarily use SAP, but we also have other ERPs in use. Previously, many resources were tied up with format issues. Translating formats, maintaining formats. We could completely hand that over to TIS.
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“We primarily use SAP, but we also have other ERPs in use. Previously, many resources were tied up with format issues. Translating formats, maintaining formats. We can now completely hand that over to TIS.”
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SABOOR SEDDIQI
This is clearly one of our strengths at TIS: The flexibility we offer customers through our format library. The relevant back-end systems can be smoothly connected, such as HR providers or TMS – also in different versions, of course. For SAP, this of course applies to the old R3 version as well as the current S4 HANA. Our customers need not worry about potential hiccups. We have a deep integration with SAP through our TIS add-on, and TIS is an SAP-certified partner.
MARIO PARROTTA
Exactly. We also have other ERP systems besides SAP. And even there, the integration with TIS works very well. Generally, we try to connect everything because we pursue a straight-through-processing approach. Our main system is SAP, and with TIS, the integration works smoothly.
SABOOR SEDDIQI
Straight-Through-Processing is obviously an important building block for fraud and compliance topics. How does TIS support you additionally in these areas?
MARIO PARROTTA
Just before the Ukraine war, we introduced the TIS Sanctions Screening. Although we have a preliminary sanctions screening module in SAP, TIS here acts as an additional safety net. As we don’t only have companies working with SAP in the group, we definitely wanted to prevent payments to sanctioned companies. TIS helped us a lot with adherence to the sanctions introduced against Russia back then. TIS also enabled block-listing for all customers for a few months. This allowed us to put on hold all transactions to Russia. Some transactions that would have slipped through otherwise were caught this way.
SABOOR SEDDIQI
The Ukraine war showed how quickly things can change massively overnight. It is crucial to have no gaps in sanction checks and that all payments are checked again before they are approved and released to the bank. Once the bank receives the payment order, it’s too late.
MARIO PARROTTA
Exactly. And the topic of fraud is also becoming increasingly important. Fortunately, we have never had a major fraud case and have internal processes to minimize risks. Nonetheless, last November we also implemented “Payee Community Screening (PCS)” from TIS as an additional safety net. Here, payments are checked against previously made payments within the TIS community before they are sent out, and alerts are sent if data deviates from known datasets or if it can even be associated with a fraud case.
SABOOR SEDDIQI
We have various solutions for both compliance and fraud topics that significantly minimize risks. For checking static data, such as master data maintenance, there is, for example, the “Vendor Master Data Screening”. For checking dynamic data in payment transactions, we have products like the “Payee Community Screening” and the “Sanctions Screening”, as Mario mentioned. TIS was founded and developed from the experience of Treasurers. This means we know the requirements and objectives very well. Our products are designed to minimize risks in global payment processes, provide transparency, standardize processes to make them more efficient, and thus offer the entire Office of the CFO opportunities to increase productivity. In the 10 years that MANN+HUMMEL has been using TIS, there has been considerable product growth.
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“Our products are designed to minimize risks in global payment processes, provide transparency, standardize processes to make them more efficient, and thus offer the entire Office of the CFO opportunities to increase productivity.”
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MARIO PARROTTA
Saboor often approaches me: “We have something new, how about we take a look at it?” Often you at TIS hit exactly what treasurers need. I find the rich tapestry of offerings and possibilities, and especially how you have expanded your portfolio with new solutions in recent years, very impressive. I think this is a good basis for the next 10 years!
