We are excited to announce that BlueScope has been awarded the prestigious Finance Transformation Innovator Award at the Future of Finance Innovators Awards 2024. This award recognises BlueScope’s groundbreaking achievements in transforming its financial operations through innovative technologies and processes, showcasing its commitment to excellence and forward-thinking leadership in the manufacturing sector.

About the Future of Finance ANZ Innovators Awards

The Future of Finance ANZ Innovators Awards are an annual celebration of the most innovative and transformative projects in the finance industry. The awards spotlight organisations that have pushed the boundaries of finance through cutting-edge technologies, operational enhancements, and new ways of thinking. The Finance Transformation Innovator Award specifically honours organisations that have made significant strides in revolutionising financial practices, increasing efficiency, and delivering value to their teams and stakeholders.

This year, BlueScope stood out for its remarkable Finance Machine Learning Debtors Collection Project, a pioneering initiative that has transformed the company’s approach to debtor management through a collaborative, cross-team approach.

Human + Machine: Transforming Debtors Management

BlueScope’s award-winning project, "Human + Machine: Transforming Debtors Management", is a shining example of how innovative technologies can streamline operations and deliver powerful results. The company embarked on this transformative journey to address inefficiencies in its debtor collection forecasting process. Previously, teams spent up to three days manually analysing customer payment behaviours, which led to operational bottlenecks and challenges with accuracy.

BlueScope’s solution? The adoption of machine learning (ML) to predict customer payment behaviours across four business units. This project has empowered over 30 people to collaborate with machine learning models, automating processes that once took days and reducing them to just one hour. The implementation of ML has not only streamlined debtor management but has also improved accuracy, allowing BlueScope to make faster, more reliable financial decisions.

Innovative Features of the Transformation

BlueScope’s project is distinguished by its innovative blend of technology and human-centric design. Here are some of the key features that set it apart:

1. Machine Learning Framework: Transformed a manual, time-consuming process into an efficient, automated one. The model continuously learns and adapts, ensuring sustainability for future finance innovations.
2. Explainable AI (XAI): Provided transparency into how the models work, fostering trust and enabling users to own and explain the numbers with confidence.
3. Design Thinking Approach: A three-session design thinking process ensured the solution was user-friendly and scalable, with input from finance, credit, and IT stakeholders.
4. Building Trust and Collaboration: Positioned the machine as a coworker, encouraging continuous feedback and co-evolution of technology and human expertise.

This approach has created and embedded a “Human + Machine = Better” culture.

Impressive Results and Impact

The results of this transformation speak for themselves. BlueScope has achieved significant improvements across key performance areas:

• Process Efficiency: Reduced processing time from three days to one hour across four teams.
• Cost Savings and Cash Flow: Improved forecasting and reduced overdue payments.
• Accuracy: Greater forecasting precision led to better financial outcomes.
• Employee Experience: Eliminated tedious tasks and enhanced engagement with transparent AI tools.
• Data Insights: Enabled proactive cash collection strategies using customer payment behaviour data.

Looking Ahead: BlueScope’s Vision for the Future

BlueScope’s journey of innovation doesn’t end here. Building on the success of the Debtors Management Project, the company plans to extend machine learning across other financial functions to further enhance efficiency and accuracy.

Looking further ahead, BlueScope aims to pioneer autonomous finance, where AI and data science drive strategic decision-making. As part of this vision, BlueScope has launched a Digital Capability Uplift Program, equipping employees with future-ready skills like Python and SQL. This supports their “Digital by Default” strategy and builds a resilient, innovation-led commercial function.

Comments from the Future of Finance Innovator Awards Judges

“BlueScope’s application stands out for its successful implementation of machine learning models to revolutionise their debtor management process. Their innovative use of machine learning (ML), coupled with Explainable AI tools, led to significant improvements in forecasting accuracy, efficiency, and cash flow management.”

“The project highlights a human-centric approach, with collaboration between humans and machines, demonstrating their commitment to sustainable, adaptable financial solutions. Their innovative use of technology for transformation makes them a deserving winner.”

Comments from Stephannie Jonovska – Head of Finance Operations and Transformation

“Hard earned and well deserved, I am extremely proud of our diverse cross-functional team that made this a reality – Business unit finance, Credit team, IT and Digital Finance and Innovation. It takes vision, resilience, experimentation, and courage to transform, and this is a prime example of the incredible impact this can have. Our Machine Learning debtors project has not only enhanced capacity and accuracy but also introduced new capabilities for our teams, proving once again that Human + Machine = Better”