How Constantia Flexibles significantly speeds up its credit decisions with the Direct+ API interface
A system containing risk assessment data from customers and suppliers worldwide that is always up to date. That was Constantia Flexibles' goal. To realize this, the world's leading manufacturer of flexible packaging relies on the Direct+ interface and Data Blocks from Dun & Bradstreet.
Automation is a key driver in credit management when it comes to saving time and reducing costs. As early as 2020, the team led by Mario Vorstandlechner, Middleware Senior Consultant at Constantia Flexibles, therefore started to build a central master data management system.
"Our goal was to have a central application that Constantia Flexibles employees in risk management could access worldwide. In addition, the data in the system should be up-to-date on a daily basis. That's why we decided to implement the Direct+ interface from Dun & Bradstreet"
- Mario Vorstandlechner, Middleware Senior Consultant at Constantia Flexibles
Since then, data such as addresses and important financial data from the Dun & Bradstreet Data Cloud have been running into Constantia Flexibles' master data management system fully automatically. "We have built a database for all our customers and suppliers in our system for this purpose. As soon as we have a new business partner, he is uniquely identified by the Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S® number and registered in the system. Once a week, we automatically receive the master data of the companies. This means we are always up to date," explains Vorstandlechner.
The nine-digit Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S number allows companies to be clearly identified. D-U-N-S, short for Data Universal Numbering System, is used to provide up-to-date and timely information on more than one hundred million companies worldwide.
The D-U-N-S number is used by lenders and potential business partners to assess the reliability or financial stability of a company. It also enables the identification of relationships between companies (hierarchies and links).
Constantia Flexibles has relied on the Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S number for many years. In the Master Data Management System, employees like Kathrin Hecht, MDM Expert Accountant at Constantia Flexibles, can now search directly for the D-U-N-S number worldwide and retrieve financial reports.
"Manual activities cost time and money. By automating our processes and implementing the Direct+ interface, we have significantly accelerated our workflows," says Hecht. "In the past, we had to ask suppliers for the commercial register excerpt. That often took weeks. Today, we retrieve this information from Dun & Bradstreet via the interface and have it within minutes. And it's all in one system."
To do this, Constantia Flexibles accesses the data from Dun & Bradstreet in the background, which is automatically prepared in PDF form and sent to the user by e-mail. "To the process. The user enters the D-U-N-S number and his e-mail address and sends the request. Via the interface, we get the data on the corresponding company, prepare it, convert it and send it to the end user by e-mail. Not even minutes later, the report is available. There is no waiting time," says Vorstandlechner.
The close exchange between IT and Credit Management was crucial in implementing the project. "We jointly defined what financial data we needed in these reports. That means the reports are tailored exactly to our needs. These reports are gigantic. Simply great! And the best thing is that we at Dun & Bradstreet now only access the data we really need for our work through the Data Blocks," says Hecht.
Constantia Flexibles employees from more than 20 locations worldwide can now access Dun & Bradstreet data through the Direct+ interface and the Master Data Management System. "We are growing strongly internationally. With this solution, we have laid the foundation for further centralizing our risk assessment processes and leveraging synergy effects," says Vorstandlechner. Gradually, other Constantia Flexibles sites will be connected to the system.
Download the Customer Voice with Constantia Flexibles as a 6-page PDF document.
is one of the world's leading manufacturers of flexible packaging. With 36 sites worldwide, the Group has evolved in recent years from a supplier with a strong European focus into a global player.
Under the guiding principle "People Passion Packaging", 8,350 employees (as of March 2020) produce customized packaging solutions around the globe. Many international companies and local market leaders from the pharmaceutical industry as well as the consumer sector rely on Constantia Flexibles' sustainable and innovative packaging. Customers include brands such as Ferrero, Danone, Bayer, and Mondelez.
