Greif opted to implement a TMS but knew that back-end bank connectivity was also vital to success. VP, Treasurer Tony Krabill had used Fides at a previous company, and said it was a natural choice for Greif’s connectivity as he knew he could trust Fides to connect all of the banks seamlessly to Greif’s TMS and ERP.
The first step was connectivity for account reporting. Krabill’s goal was to connect as many of its banks as possible to the new solution, as quickly as possible, once Greif’s TMS implementation was live. Timelines were carefully coordinated, which was made easier by the existing partnership between Fides and the TMS provider.
Greif opted to use the SWIFT network as its channel of choice for transactions and payments. Fides worked to initially connect the company’s banks in North America, and then expanded connectivity to global banks. Once the TMS was initialized and all the bank paperwork was completed, the prior day data appeared in the TMS within days — giving Greif’s treasury team the information it needed for a consolidated view.
Next, payment flows were set up. A timeline that included milestones of assigning internal IT resources, extensive testing, and resource coordination was developed, allowing Greif to easily meet its goals.