How DSM Uses Celonis Execution Management to Improve OTIF Performance and Save Millions in Order-to-Cash

DSM operates across health, bioscience, and nutrition markets globally, with complex supply chains that depend on reliable Order-to-Cash execution. The company found that over 60% of credit and delivery blocks in its O2C process were avoidable — the result of insufficient visibility into where process problems were occurring and why. Manual interventions were widespread, cycle times for blocked orders ran multiple days longer than necessary, and on-time in-full delivery performance suffered across regions.

The core challenge was diagnostic: without a way to systematically identify the root causes of process failures, DSM's teams could only react to issues rather than prevent them. Manual sales order changes were a symptom of this reactive stance — each one represented a process deviation that could have been caught earlier or automated.

DSM implemented the Celonis Execution Management System (EMS) with Accenture as implementation partner, running a Value Realization Program that combined root-cause analysis, process optimization, and automation prototyping. The EMS integrates with SAP to surface where and why blocks are occurring, and Action Flows automate the resolution of routine deviations. The program included a structured training component to embed Celonis capabilities across teams and enable scaling beyond the initial deployment.

Results came quickly. Within the 3-month pilot, DSM achieved multi-million-dollar savings. Delivery blocks dropped by 10%. Cycle times for blocked orders were reduced by several days. Manual sales order changes declined 10%. In the APAC region, the first-time-right ratio improved from 18% to 42% — more than doubling. In North America, OTIF performance grew from 84% to 90% within six months of go-live.

The direction ahead for DSM is continued automation: giving teams analytics-driven signals to act on the right things at the right time, reducing the margin for manual error that was the root cause of the original O2C problems.