Global telecommunications company's order-to-cash processes, supported by service centers across multiple geographies, suffered from critical operational inefficiencies:
A global telecommunications company's order-to-cash process had become a competitive liability. What should have been a routine transaction—customer places order, fulfillment executes, payment processes—was taking 72 hours from order entry to customer notification. In an industry where speed matters, this meant lost sales, frustrated customers, and operations teams drowning in manual work.
The root cause wasn't a single bottleneck but rather systemic inefficiency: disconnected systems, manual handoffs, lack of automation, and no clear process ownership across the order-to-cash lifecycle.
We conducted an 8-week process transformation that combined process mapping, stakeholder engagement, and rapid automation deployment. The engagement started with comprehensive discovery: mapping the complete order-to-cash flow, identifying every manual touchpoint and system handoff, and quantifying time spent at each stage.
With the baseline established, we designed an optimized state that automated routine tasks, eliminated redundant approvals, consolidated system touchpoints, and established clear ownership. The implementation included new workflow automation, data integration between previously siloed systems, role clarity across Sales, Operations, and Finance, and performance dashboards for real-time monitoring.
The transformation delivered a 96% cycle time improvement, reducing order-to-cash from 72 hours to just 3 hours. This dramatic improvement came from eliminating 23 manual handoffs, automating 15 previously manual processes, and establishing single-point accountability for end-to-end execution.
The operational benefits extended beyond speed. Automated quality checks reduced errors, real-time dashboards enabled proactive intervention, and streamlined workflows freed operations teams to focus on exception handling rather than routine processing. Customer satisfaction improved measurably—faster order processing meant faster service activation and better competitive positioning.
Success required balancing quick wins with sustainable change. Early automation of high-volume, low-complexity tasks built momentum and demonstrated value. Stakeholder engagement across Sales, Operations, and Finance ensured the redesigned process worked for everyone, not just one function. Most importantly, establishing clear process ownership prevented the workflow from degrading back to manual workarounds over time.