Volkswagen AG
MORE EFFICIENCY IN LEGAL ENTITY MANAGEMENT
The Volkswagen Group's shareholding portfolio comprises approximately 1,500 active shareholdings plus around 1,300 inactive "historical" shareholdings and 1,100 external companies with shareholding relevance.
In addition to the almost 4,000 companies, the legal entity management has to keep track of 750 associations, 300 reporting units and 3,300 auditing companies.
Uniform data management in one application with all relevant content is therefore a real value-added factor. The legal entity management software zetVisions CIM with its modules adapted to the needs of Volkswagen AG reduces the effort, minimises sources of error and creates maximum transparency. To achieve this, manual work steps, such as e-mail communication and documents as attachments, are replaced by system-supported, workflow-based processes.
„Since the introduction of zetVisions CIM, we avoid transmission errors due to fewer manual reconciliations and achieve a huge minimisation of effort.“
Matthias Bredow Group Legal Group Coordination Volkswagen AG
The challenge
VW AG had been working with the "Betis" legal entity information system - a self-developed Oracle database - since the 1990s. However, the reporting lines were not always clear for the departments involved in the process of legal entity management and the maintenance of company data: there were no cross-departmental responsibilities, no uniform contact persons for the establishment, acquisition or change of companies.
Data was maintained, held and used several times. At the end of the year, considerable effort was then regularly required to ensure the uniformity, consistency, up-to-dateness and completeness of the data through manual reconciliation. The main problem: There was no uniformity in the spelling of the companies and legal forms.
Optimisation of the legal entity management processes through a uniform input platform for the entire group
The solution
Corporate Investment Manager
CIM's rights and roles concept, which is based on the organisational structure of Volkswagen AG, ensures defined responsibilities through roles that are independent of departments. For example, group shareholdings can now be processed by a legal or a financial role. The same applies to auditing firms, reporting units, tax operating units and clubs/associations. In addition, the system created an audit-proof dual control principle through separate data entry and release.
Since the go-live of CIM in mid-2017, this system has been used to manage not only group companies, but also mandates (board of directors, supervisory board) as well as external companies and VW shareholders.
With CIM as the single point of truth, the Volkswagen Group creates its list of shareholdings and the company register in a system-based and reliable manner.
„With fewer manual reconciliations, we avoid transmission errors and achieve a huge minimisation of effort.“
Matthias Bredow Group Legal Group Coordination Volkswagen AG
THIS IS HOW VW BENEFITS FROM CIM
- Unique data management and maintenance in one application
- Historical mapping of changes, legal form-oriented recording of capital assets, document management
- System-supported, workflow-based processes
- Dedicated rights and role concept based on organisational structure
- Audit-proof multi-eye principle through separation of data input and release
- System-based preparation of the shareholdings and the company register
Volkswagen AG
Founded in 1937 and headquartered in Wolfsburg, the Volkswagen Group is one of the world's leading car manufacturers and the largest carmaker in Europe.
Ten brands from five European countries belong to the Group: Volkswagen, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, ŠKODA, SEAT, CUPRA, Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, Porsche and Ducati. The Commercial Vehicles Division primarily comprises the development, production and distribution of light commercial vehicles, trucks and buses of the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Scania, MAN and Navistar brands. The VW Group operates 120 production sites in 19 countries in Europe and in ten countries in America, Asia and Africa and employs 662,575 people. The Volkswagen Group offers its vehicles in 153 countries. In the 2021 financial year, the Group generated sales revenues of €250.2 billion.
