Kantar - Effective and efficient

Kantar wanted to transform their procurement function globally. Here’s how KPMG helped them become state-of-the-art and find US$22 million in annual savings. 

The challenge: Modernise a fragmented procurement function

When you spend more than US$1 billion a year on suppliers, you want to be sure you have a best-in-class procurement capability. The executives at Kantar – a global data analytics and brand consulting business – knew they did not. Procurement processes were highly fragmented. Visibility and control were low. Their spend data wasn’t providing them with any useful insights. The existing systems were outdated and not fit for purpose.

Bain Capital acquired a majority stake in the company in 2019. They were keen to see fundamental changes to the procurement capability. A new Chief Procurement Officer was recruited. And KPMG in the UK was brought on board to help transform the function. The goal was to create a modernised, digitally-enabled, cloud-based Source to Pay (S2P) service that would join up Kantar’s people, processes and technology.

“We didn’t just need a new procurement system, we needed control. And we needed it quickly. We wanted proven technology, implemented at an accelerated pace, with little customisation and supported by a continuous flow of vendor upgrades and enhancements. KPMG brought the right mix of capabilities and know-how to the table to help us accomplish our goals.”

-Steve Day, Chief Procurement Officer, Kantar Group 

KPMG started by helping Kantar’s leadership articulate their strategy and value case through a series of workshops where managers and leaders shared their vision for the future of procurement. That led to a clear roadmap that the organisation could reference at every step of the journey. We then helped Kantar with their technology and solution selection process, bringing together stakeholders from across the business to develop the specific requirements.

Where KPMG made the greatest difference, however, was in their ability to use the global firm’s insight and tools to accelerate the development and delivery of the organisation’s new operating model. Leveraging KPMG’s proprietary Powered Procurement offering, which provides clients with an out-of-the-box solution that can be quickly and easily fit to the business, KPMG rapidly rolled out the new solution in three waves across various global regions.

“The KPMG Powered methodology for our solution implementation was critical to us achieving our goals. It helped us standardise our ways of working and avoid expensive customisation whilst also proving the real-world value of the solution to the business. Powered allowed us to deploy our new solution at pace, using well-worked and proven design principles, so that we could focus on time to value.” 

-Steve Day, Chief Procurement Officer, Kantar Group 

With KPMG’s support, Kantar has achieved some fantastic results. The business now boasts a cross-functional, end-to-end source to pay model that is truly fit for purpose. High levels of automation have reduced manual effort. Global businesses have harmonised around one S2P process. Contracts, orders and invoices are all linked up. Procurement now has the information it needs to actively address spend.

Kantar is now on track to achieve around US$22 million in cost savings as a result of the transformation programme – equivalent to around 4 percent of their addressable spend. Operational costs have been slashed. And procurement professionals have been freed up to focus on more strategic and value-driving activities.

“KPMG has been Kantar’s partner on our finance and procurement transformation journey since 2020. From design and development though to delivery support and implementation, the KPMG team has always given invaluable consulting support. We have moved from a business where every purchase invoice was manually processed with poor PO compliance levels, to instead become a business where, by the end of 2023, 95 percent of our invoicing will be electronic. The results have been rapid and impressive.”

-Matthew Robinson, Transformation Director, Kantar Group 

This project was led by Hannah Tiley, Senior Manager in KPMG’s Customer and Operations division. The department assists clients in enhancing their procurement functions by developing strategies, designing operating models, and implementing multi-year operational transformations powered by technology, all facilitated through KPMG’s Powered Enterprise.