Learn how a global production powerhouse from the media and entertainment sector reached a new level of efficiency with simplified workflows and improved obligations visibility.
The context
Their core business relies on TV-format licenses, encompassing hundreds of contractual parameters related to intellectual property rights, multi-layered licenses and options that cover royalty calculations, payment in instalments, several dozens of so-called ‘secondary rights’, merchandising, evaluation programmes and so on. Stipulating for any triggered, depending on the TV-format, its support operations across the globe.
With a global presence, this powerhouse operated through more than 60 subsidiaries worldwide, each working with their own templates to comply with local practices.
The challenge
The organisation struggled with a slow contracting process, local-law particularities and complex decision-making that required meticulous monitoring. The multitude of contractual parameters made the contracting process time-consuming and somewhat inconsistent, occasionally leading to errors or inadvertent deviations from internal policies or commitments beyond available resources. Inefficient workflows, lack of compliance and lengthy response times added to the challenge.
The requirement
Recognising the need for increased efficiency, improved risk management and compliance, the contracting team needed a contract automation solution that would streamline their contracting and approval workflows and related processes. Automating it all aimed at reducing contract creation time, improving internal controls and ensuring reliability of contract data, committed deliverables.
Contracts involve many stakeholders and a contracting cycle many intertwined sub-processes. Accelerating your contract cycle means disentangling those sub-processes and automating each, applying internal controls, creating flow and autonomy, and enforcing compliance with corporate policies.
Our solution
The production powerhouse partnered with Weagree to transform their contraction practice. Weagree’s expertise and intuitive contract automation application enabled disentangling sub-processes and automating each business transaction step, strengthening compliance and accelerating their contracting cycle. Weagree’s contract automation solution reinforced local law requirements across the global legal team. The results were nothing short of remarkable, for the entire organisation.
The result
Together with Weagree, the contracting team upgraded their entire contracting practice:
- Reduced contract creation time: The time required to create a contract was significantly reduced from 12-30 hours to just 2½ hours, enabling internal stakeholders to focus on more strategic, creative and operational work.
- Response time of legal department: With the automated system in place, the legal department achieved a remarkable result in response time, bringing it down to zero. Zero, because preapproved clauses and a business-supportive questionnaire (answered by the ‘business owner’ of the transaction) changes the legal department’s involvement to staying informed rather than gatekeeping.
- Strong internal controls and risk management: Weagree’s solution enabled efficient involvement of senior management and collaboration with key stakeholders, enhancing internal controls and ensuring strengthened compliance with corporate policies.
- Complete and reliable contract data: Weagree’s integration with the CRM and Mendix ERP ensured that contract data was always up to date and accurately reflected. Rather, entering or updating the agreed contract data within Weagree proved to be much easier than in their CRM/ERP. The seamless data flow minimised errors and improved the overall quality of contracts.
Furthermore, by expanding Weagree’s approval workflow functionality, the contracting team was able to optimise their operations and internal communications regarding compliance. Simplified procedures, improved communications and streamlined approvals foster a more efficient business environment.
