A merger occurred between two North American manufacturing companies. They were able to unite forces to bring unique value to the construction, transportation, materials handling, and agricultural industries in Canada and the United States.
As a multinational firm which has undergone mergers and acquisitions, the new company had multiple and disparate IT systems. They were seeking a more simple and timely way to access business data and improve its decision-making process to successfully serve customers in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia.
Further compounding the problem was a disparity in business models of the merged entities. Dealing with multiple systems was causing confusion and tremendous overhead on their employees. Not to mention the reduction in quality of service provided to their customers.
To the Rescue - A BI Bridge and Gasket Solution
It was determined that datacubes could be developed to combine data from the different systems, including Excel, that would allow users to create overlays of data for a consolidated view of profits and sales across business units. We refer to this as a Bridge.
Not only did this approach accelerate their ability to analyze important information, it also reduced the current IT report backlog. Users were empowered to mine the information to meet their own reporting requirements (the 'gasket').
Discovery of Outdated Business Practices
The Business Intelligence solution provided other benefits. A user analyzing the datacubes discovered that customers that bought on-line were paying full price while phone orders were often discounted. A decision was made to restrict the discounts available for certain items. This immediately drove profits higher as on-line ordering increased and profit margins were restored.
China Sourcing and Business Model Reversal
In the past, sales were forecast based on key attributes including customer group, geographies, product classes, and related criteria. Over time the accuracy of the forecasts was steadily decreasing as more and more products were sourced overseas, particularly China.
As more and more products were sourced overseas, the purchasing options for end customers increased. Often there were similar products offered by Chinese suppliers that were only slightly different from similar products sourced in North America.
While this supplier substitution delivered a new competitive price and quality combination, it created havoc with customer forecasts effectively reversing the business model from customer driven to product driven. Forecasts became useless over time.
The BI Bridge and Gasket approach provides the means to identify and understand problems caused by a transition from customer-driven to product-driven forecasts. This is another example of how rapidly deployed solutions based on current and focused business drivers help companies in competitive industries.
As a multinational firm which has undergone mergers and acquisitions, the new company had multiple and disparate IT systems. They were seeking a more simple and timely way to access business data and improve its decision-making process to successfully serve customers in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia.
Further compounding the problem was a disparity in business models of the merged entities. Dealing with multiple systems was causing confusion and tremendous overhead on their employees. Not to mention the reduction in quality of service provided to their customers.
To the Rescue - A BI Bridge and Gasket Solution
It was determined that datacubes could be developed to combine data from the different systems, including Excel, that would allow users to create overlays of data for a consolidated view of profits and sales across business units. We refer to this as a Bridge.
Not only did this approach accelerate their ability to analyze important information, it also reduced the current IT report backlog. Users were empowered to mine the information to meet their own reporting requirements (the 'gasket').
Discovery of Outdated Business Practices
The Business Intelligence solution provided other benefits. A user analyzing the datacubes discovered that customers that bought on-line were paying full price while phone orders were often discounted. A decision was made to restrict the discounts available for certain items. This immediately drove profits higher as on-line ordering increased and profit margins were restored.
China Sourcing and Business Model Reversal
In the past, sales were forecast based on key attributes including customer group, geographies, product classes, and related criteria. Over time the accuracy of the forecasts was steadily decreasing as more and more products were sourced overseas, particularly China.
As more and more products were sourced overseas, the purchasing options for end customers increased. Often there were similar products offered by Chinese suppliers that were only slightly different from similar products sourced in North America.
While this supplier substitution delivered a new competitive price and quality combination, it created havoc with customer forecasts effectively reversing the business model from customer driven to product driven. Forecasts became useless over time.
The BI Bridge and Gasket approach provides the means to identify and understand problems caused by a transition from customer-driven to product-driven forecasts. This is another example of how rapidly deployed solutions based on current and focused business drivers help companies in competitive industries.
About the Author:
Discover how focused analytics for business mergers will reconcile unrelated systems and help your company better manage multiple business models. Our BI Road Map Accelerator offers a try-before-your company-buy alternative for immediate, tangible results.
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