The Challenge
As a leading global manufacturer and supplier of vehicle exhaust systems, ride-control products, and filters, this organization desired to gain greater insight into the effectiveness of its sales channels and in what markets it was more or less successful. Haverstick was engaged to assist in building a Business Intelligence solution for analyzing the market share of its various products and that of its competitors.
The client’s sales force had been collecting market share data about its own products, as well as its competitors for some time. Using this data, they forecast five-year trends across all products. The sales data and forecasts were then entered into Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, collated by a centralized group, and manually entered into a Microsoft Access database. Finally, rudimentary market share analysis reports were generated from the Access database. Annual reports were in a spreadsheet format and only showed market share trends over time, rather than by key market and customer attributes.
Overall the client’s existing decision support process was time-consuming, prone to error, and did not provide
the sophisticated analysis needed to maintain its competitiveness in the market. A more robust and easy-to-use system was needed.
The object was to:
- Develop a solution to streamline the data-collection process and improve data accuracy
- Deploy a system that supports dynamic updates and more robust analysis capabilities
- Provide users with a flexible and easy way to analyze data
- Maximize the use of existing IT investments
The Haverstick Approach
Haverstick was selected to develop a complete Business Intelligence solution that would meet the stated business goals. The client felt strongly that an experienced team with the necessary skills to implement a total solution was the best value and the most effective approach. To create this solution, Haverstick:
- Replaced the existing data collection process with a new approach that uses a Web-enabled Visual Basic application to capture data and store it in a SQL Server database. This solution enables the sales force to enter and modify data and market-share projections at will, resulting in more accurate, up-to-date information to be used for decision-making.
- Constructed a multipdimensional OLAP cube using Microsoft OLAP Services to enable more robust analytical capabilities.
- Implemented ProClarity as the end-user OLAP viewer with which to analyze the collected data. This high-end, user-friendly tool enables detailed analysis of the data, aggregated and/or segmented according to a wide variety of attributes. It uses powerful graphics to facilitate ad-hoc analysis and provides sophisticated drill-down capabilities.
- For users more comfortable working in a spreadsheet environment, Microsoft Excel 2000 was used to create simple graphical and tabular views of the data. This, along with the use of SQL Server and Visual Basic, leveraged the client’s existing Microsoft-based investments.
- Enabled the English Language Query functionality within SQL Server to provide powerful ad-hoc query capabilities into the data.
The Result
The client now has greater insight into its competitive situation and a more accurate view of the total market and its relative share. Senior management can easily access and analyze sales data to make informed business decisions and can meet the required SEC reporting guidelines in a timely fashion. The solution provides specific information on which products, markets, and customers are producing the greatest sales and which ones should be eliminated or receive greater focus of company resources. |
