Dana Holding Corp., an automotive manufacturer, adopted new technology in order to increase its visibility and improve its cash-flow forecasting.

Prior to this effort, Dana, with operations in 26 countries around the world, had an indirect cash forecasting process. "We were dependent on cash flow forecasts that were provided by various members of the FP&A functions throughout our entire financial organization at the business level," said Muriel Alvarez, assistant treasurer at Dana. "For long-term forecasts, that approach makes senses but short-term, it's not usually as accurate as a direct method."

The system provided weekly visibility into the company's cash, and given that it depended on employees going in to post balances, the accuracy "was not that great," Alvarez said.