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About ArthroCare
ArthroCare Corporation is a multi-business medical device company providing
surgical products based on its patented Coblation technology. The
Coblation process allows arthroscopic surgeons to operate with a high
degree of precision and accuracy and minimal damage to surrounding tissue. Ranked
as one of Forbes’ 25 Fastest-Growing Tech Companies and one of
Fortune’s 100 Fastest-Growing Small Companies in America, ArthroCare
reported 2003 revenues of $119 million and annual revenue growth of 34%.
Challenges
ArthroCare’s strategic goals focus on expanding product solutions
and growing revenue. To support this, they needed a comprehensive
enterprise performance management solution where multiple functional users
could access the same information. The project team was tasked
with creating a world-class planning and reporting environment where
information could be analyzed and distributed quickly.
As a rapidly growing company, ArthroCare was suffering from too many
sources of data, and not enough consistent information. Management
wanted to create an environment of accountability where people have timely
access to results and take action immediately, but the company’s
transaction systems were not designed to support the type of sales territory
and product line reporting needed. It was difficult getting data
in the right hands because so many Excel spreadsheets were being utilized. ArthroCare
really needed one source of the truth.
Solutions
Today, ArthroCare is leveraging Hyperion’s suite of applications
and TopDown Consulting’s expertise to create solutions for multiple
areas of their business.
The first success was improving their financial consolidation and reporting
process. Using Hyperion, ArthroCare created a consistent financial
database and shortened their close cycle. Previously, financial
results were collected and published manually. Now, dynamic reports
provide immediate access to both internal and external reporting structures.
Once the accuracy of the financial reports was assured, the solution
was expanded to focus on product line and sales reporting. ArthroCare
now provides sales analysis on a daily basis, including drill-down to
underlying detail. The Daily Bookings Report lets business units
review month-to-date results and take immediate action if changes are
indicated. Non-financial information and statistics are included,
allowing the manufacturing group to understand and analyze unit trends.
To provide a complete view of company performance, ArthroCare also incorporated
planning and budgeting into the solution. Executives expect
cost center managers to be accountable for their results, so it is critical
that they participate in setting budgets and targets. Users
now have a real-time environment to track results, analyze variances,
and communicate throughout the organization.
Results
TopDown Consulting helped ArthroCare achieve measurable
benefits from their Hyperion implementation. The project’s
successes include:
Supporting
rapid company growth (revenue growth of 47% and EPS growth
of 160% from Q2 2002 to Q4 2003) Improving
the month-end closing cycle from 15 days to 7 days Increasing
the reporting audience and frequency from quarterly reporting
for approximately 10 people, to now providing daily, weekly,
and monthly reporting for over 50 people Providing
more consistent and accurate information that people can
access immediately Delivering
flexible reporting views with drill-down capability to supporting
details Integrating
actuals, plans, and budgets to create a complete view of
company performance -
Streamlining
the consolidation process, enabling multiple acquisitions
to be easily absorbed in an 18-month period
Reducing
manual data entry and the maintenance of numerous spreadsheets Creating
an environment of accountability where people take the initiative
to make positive changes Enabling
managers to check sales of new products and make immediate
adjustments to affect trends Incorporating
operational data and statistics to provide value beyond Finance
and deliver benefits throughout the organization
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