Client Overview
A prominent electronics manufacturer aimed to automate data ingestion and transformation from their SAP and Sales Force Automation systems into an Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) for real-time reporting and informed decision-making.
Objectives
- Automated data ingestion and transformation: Automate the process of ingesting raw data from both SAP (enterprise resource planning) and Sales Force Automation (SFA) systems and transform it into a clean, consistent format. This centralized data warehouse (EDW) will serve as a single source of truth for all sales-related data.
- On-demand sales insights: Transform data into actionable insights through user-friendly reporting dashboards. These dashboards will provide on-demand access to critical sales performance metrics, including sales figures, commission structures, and incentive programs. This empowers sales teams and management with the ability to track progress, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions at any time.
- Enable real-time decision-making: Leverage real-time data integration to gain immediate insights into sales performance. This enables proactive decision-making. For example, managers can identify underperforming regions or products and take corrective actions in real-time to optimise sales strategies and maximise profitability.
Challenges
- Data silos and manual data extraction: Sales data resided in isolated systems (SAP and SFA), hindering a holistic view of sales performance. Extracting and analysing data from these systems was a time-consuming, manual process, leading to operational inefficiencies and wasted resources. This manual approach limited the ability to analyse large datasets and uncover valuable sales insights.
- Outdated insights and missed opportunities: Relying on manual data analysis resulted in inconsistent and delayed reporting. Sales teams and management lacked access to real-time data, hindering their ability to identify trends, respond to market changes quickly, and capitalise on potential sales opportunities.
- Integration Hurdles: Integrating data from two disparate systems (SAP and SFA) presented a complex challenge. Without proper integration, creating a unified reporting system to analyse all sales data effectively was impractical. This limited the company’s ability to gain a complete understanding of sales performance across different departments and functions.
Solution
To overcome data silos and manual processes, we implemented a next-generation data management solution. This solution consisted of three key components:
- Centralised data hub: A centralised data repository was established to serve as the single source of truth for all sales data, eliminating data silos and ensuring consistent data across the organisation.
- Automated data pipeline: Automated data ingestion and transformation pipelines were established to seamlessly extract raw data from both SAP and Sales Force Automation systems in real-time. This raw data is cleaned, standardised, and transformed into a format that is optimised for analysis within the data warehouse.
- Self-service reporting and visualisation platform: A user-friendly self-service reporting and visualisation platform provides on-demand access to sales data. Sales teams and management can leverage interactive dashboards and reports to analyse sales, distributor, and outlet performance metrics, track progress towards goals, and identify trends. This empowers data-driven decision-making at all levels of the organisation, fostering a culture of data-driven sales strategies.
Benefits
- Cost savings: Automating data extraction, transformation, and reporting increases productivity by 50% saving thousands of man-hours annually. Valuable employee time is freed up to focus on higher-value activities. This translates to cost savings and a more efficient sales operation.
- Enhanced decision-making: Sales teams and management gain visibility into real-time sales performance metrics, including sales figures, commission structures, and incentive programs. This enables proactive decision-making, allowing them to identify and capitalise on sales opportunities quickly, optimise sales strategies in real time, and maximise profitability.
- Empowering Data-Driven Sales: The self-service reporting and visualisation platform empowers all levels of the organisation with on-demand access to critical sales data. Users can explore interactive dashboards and reports to track progress, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions without relying on IT specialists. This fosters a culture of data-driven sales across the organisation.