Global Manufacturer Unifies Contract Management Across Regions

A fragmented global business needed one contract platform to replace regional silos, standardise processes, and support growth across multiple jurisdictions.
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Challenges
3600+

Contracts now managed in centralized global platform

40+ countries

Requiring unified legal entity management and compliance

Extremely limited functionality

Described North America's competing CLM platform before displacement

"The vendor partnership approach was really impressive. The team came very well prepared and fully aware of our requirements. This represents exactly how we expect enterprise partnerships to operate."

Strategic Implementation Lead

Challenge

A global building materials and piping systems manufacturer operated with severely fragmented contract management across their international structure spanning Belgium headquarters, North America, APAC, and India. Each region maintained separate processes using SharePoint folders and Excel spreadsheets, creating operational silos with inconsistent categorization and folder hierarchies. The fragmentation was compounded when North America independently selected and implemented a competing CLM platform that delivered what a strategic implementation lead described as "extremely limited functionality."

The organization faced mounting pressure with high-volume requirements—India alone anticipated 400+ new contracts within six months—while lacking centralized visibility or standardized processes. The competitive platform failure in North America created additional complexity, requiring tool consolidation to eliminate operational friction and duplication across the enterprise.

Solution Search

The organization selected Leah comprehensive CLM platform for its multi-application architecture and global scalability capabilities. The solution provides centralized contract repository management with sophisticated legal entity support across 40+ countries, enabling dynamic corporate governance automation integrated with external systems like Diligent. Advanced workflow capabilities include automated metadata extraction, role-based access controls, and integrated electronic execution through DocuSign.

The platform's modular approach allowed the organization to expand beyond core CLM into specialized applications including Corporate Governance for board meeting automation and Tax Governance for compliance tracking. Technical capabilities include API integrations for real-time corporate data synchronization, custom field support for complex legal entity structures, and multi-regional configuration flexibility while maintaining standardized global processes.

Key differentiators included the system's ability to handle sophisticated legal entity management requirements, automated corporate governance workflows generating meeting minutes and resolutions directly from contract data, and the flexibility to customize regional workflows while maintaining global standardization.

Why Leah

The organization approached deployment with a measured, infrastructure-first strategy beginning with headquarters-based legal and procurement teams 14-15 months ago. The implementation prioritized foundational success through careful legacy data migration, processing 1200+ documents from multiple systems via SharePoint and SFTP methods, and establishing standardized taxonomy structures to support future global expansion.

A critical milestone was the competitive displacement in North America, where internal advocacy successfully transitioned the region from their existing vendor to Leah. This represented significant organizational validation, requiring careful stakeholder management and change coordination across regions. The vendor provided structured partnership support through weekly project meetings, transparent QBR processes, and collaborative problem-solving for complex technical challenges.

The rollout expanded systematically across departments, onboarding 15 finance colleagues and 15 IT professionals beyond the core legal team. Advanced module implementations followed, with Corporate Governance and Tax Governance applications deployed to serve specialized compliance requirements. Throughout the process, the team maintained pragmatic testing approaches, utilizing both staging and production environments to ensure reliability before expanding access.

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"The platform's ability to serve multiple applications—CLM, Corporate Governance, Tax Governance—from a single infrastructure was exactly what we needed for our complex global structure."

Strategic Implementation Lead

Outcome

North America abandoned existing vendor for Leah capabilities

The transformation established Leah as essential operational infrastructure across the organization's global operations. The platform now processes 300+ contracts year-to-date with reliable monthly volumes, while the centralized repository contains 3600+ contracts spanning corporate agreements, NDAs, and procurement documents. The standardized approach eliminated regional silos, enabling consistent governance and compliance across all jurisdictions.

The competitive win in North America demonstrates measurable platform superiority, with the region willingly switching from their recently implemented alternative to join the unified global deployment. This organic expansion pattern continued across departments, with finance and IT teams requesting access after observing legal operations success. The system's advanced capabilities now automate corporate governance processes, generate board meeting materials, and streamline compliance workflows previously managed manually.

Looking forward, the platform foundation enables continued expansion with India regional rollout underway and additional modules being evaluated. The organization has achieved the standardization and scalability required to support their global growth while maintaining the flexibility needed for complex multi-jurisdictional operations. Advanced AI capabilities including contract intelligence and risk assessment represent the next phase of optimization as the foundation matures.