Grupo LALA: Industrialising collections at scale across high-volume, multi-entity operations

Grupo LALA is a leading Mexican dairy group, founded in 1949, generating approximately $3.5 billion in annual revenue and employing around 38,000 people. Headquartered in Gómez Palacio, Durango, the company operates a large-scale, multi-country network spanning Mexico, the United States, Central America and Brazil, supported by extensive production and distribution infrastructure.

With a portfolio of more than 43 brands across milk, yogurt, cheese, cream and related dairy products, LALA is a major supplier to high-volume retail customers across the region. Its scale, geographic reach and diversified product base position it as a significant player in the Latin American food sector, with ongoing investment focused on operational efficiency, innovation and sustainable growth.

In high-volume receivables environments, scale is not just a challenge-it is a structural constraint. For LALA, managing thousands of invoices per customer account across multiple entities required a fundamental shift in how collections were executed.

The objective was clear: reduce manual workload, improve visibility, standardise processes across entities, and enable the business to operate efficiently at extreme invoice volumes.

KEY SNAPSHOT

• Multi-country operations across Mexico and the United States
  
• High-volume retail exposure, including global key accounts
  
• Thousands of invoices managed per single customer account
  
• Initial deployment in Mexico, with US rollout approaching go-live
  
• Scalable model with potential expansion across LATAM
  

FROM MANUAL INTENSITY TO INDUSTRIALISED COLLECTIONS

Prior to implementation, collections processes were heavily manual. Teams were required to manage large customer portfolios through repeated email follow-ups, fragmented data views, and limited visibility into real-time receivables positions.

At the upper end of complexity, key accounts such as Walmart involved the management of hundreds-often thousands-of invoices within a single account. This created operational friction, limited prioritisation, and constrained team efficiency.

The challenge was not simply digitisation, but the ability to operate at a scale rarely encountered in traditional credit management environments.

A PLATFORM BUILT FOR SCALE, DELIVERING MEASURABLE OPERATIONAL GAINS

The deployment of My DSO Manager marked a shift towards a more industrialised, data-driven collections model.

Automation of reminder workflows has significantly reduced the need for manual follow-ups, enabling teams to reallocate time towards higher-value collection activity. Even at early stages, this represents a material reduction in administrative workload.

Centralisation of receivables data has created a single, unified view across entities-providing immediate visibility into overdue positions, collection status and team activity. With daily refreshed data, decision-making has moved closer to real time.

Crucially, the platform has demonstrated the ability to handle exceptionally high invoice volumes within single customer accounts. Enhancements to infrastructure and user interface have enabled teams to manage complexity at scale-filtering relevant items, tailoring communications, and providing customers with direct access to invoice information.

EFFICIENCY, VISIBILITY, SCALABILITY: A STEP-CHANGE IN PERFORMANCE

Early outcomes can be framed across three core dimensions.

Efficiency: Automation has reduced manual collection effort and accelerated follow-up cycles, improving overall team productivity.

Visibility: A centralised, graphical view of receivables has strengthened control, enabling clearer monitoring of KPIs, overdue exposure and collection performance.

Scalability: The platform has proven its ability to support extreme invoice volumes, transforming what was previously a manual constraint into a manageable, repeatable process.

A COLLABORATIVE IMPLEMENTATION UNDERPINNED BY SCALE CHALLENGES

The rollout, initially in Mexico and now extending to the United States, was delivered through close collaboration between LALA's finance and IT teams and My DSO Manager.

Notably, the primary challenge was not adoption, but data scale. Supporting one of the largest invoice volumes seen on a single account required platform and infrastructure optimisation, resulting in mutual progression: LALA gained a solution adapted to its operating reality, while My DSO Manager strengthened its capability for high-volume environments.

"The project manager from My DSO Manager was a great facilitator-always able to answer questions, very well prepared, and with strong knowledge of the tool."

USER ADOPTION DRIVEN BY SIMPLICITY AND CONTROL

From a user perspective, the value has been immediate. The elimination of repetitive manual emails, combined with a single source of truth for receivables, has simplified day-to-day operations.

Visibility into due amounts, collection status and team activity has improved oversight, while laying the foundation for stronger collaboration and performance management.

"My DSO Manager is a really helpful tool to send emails and view the status of the current due amount. Everything in one tool-that is very valuable from a finance perspective."

A SCALABLE MODEL FOR MULTI-ENTITY GROWTH

With Mexico live and the US rollout nearing completion, the model is now positioned for broader deployment across Latin America.

The ability to standardise and scale collections processes across entities, while maintaining control over high-volume accounts, positions Grupo LALA to manage future growth without a corresponding increase in operational complexity.

SETTING A BENCHMARK FOR HIGH-VOLUME CREDIT ENVIRONMENTS

This case illustrates a broader shift in credit management: from manual, fragmented processes to industrialised, scalable operations.

For organisations managing large customer portfolios and exceptional invoice volumes, the implications are clear. Efficiency gains, enhanced visibility and the ability to operate at scale are no longer incremental improvements-they are foundational capabilities.

Grupo LALA's transformation positions it as a benchmark for high-volume, multi-entity collections, demonstrating how the right combination of automation, data and infrastructure can redefine performance in complex receivables environments.