28 Nov 2011 Managing the ins and outs of an end-to-end BI Solution
United Carton Industries was founded in 1990 and with a manufacturing capacity of 265,000 metric tons is the leading supplier of corrugated packaging in the Middle East. Efficiency is a necessity in such a demanding manufacturing environment. In order to manage and control their day-to-day functions and thus allow effective decision making, UCIC realized the importance of implementing a Business Intelligence Solution and aware of their unbeaten track record contacted ClearPeaks.
The Challenge
The carton manufacturing industry is getting progressively more complex; suppliers no longer produce only boxes, but provide their customers with end-to-end services that complement their core product. Of course, competitive pricing is the key to staying ahead, and improved efficiency can reduce costs and increase profitability, whilst still meeting increasingly exigent customer needs. Optimizing the production system to avoid errors, stoppages or breakdowns was a clear objective for UCIC when they called in ClearPeaks, aware of the need to implement a Business Intelligence Solution to manage day-to-day functions and enhance quick and efficient decision making in a variable environment.
As product delivery is on demand, UCIC needed to control the work flow process both internally and externally: internally, to achieve a work schedule to reduce production time and base paper loss effectively, detect bottlenecks, and facilitate stock management; externally, to guarantee customers a precise and on-time quality delivery. From a sales and invoicing perspective, UCIC also required a detailed and up-to-date view of customers’ current purchasing patterns and evolution, offering customer segmentation according to selling volume, product type, geography, sales rep, etc. Considering these key factors, UCIC decided to get in touch with ClearPeaks.
The Solution – Thinking outside the box
The main goal of implementing BI in the UCIC environment was to be able to track and improve efficiency by enhancing production and machine performance. UCIC’s forward thinking brought them together with ClearPeaks to implement a solution which would allow end users in ten different departments to receive daily reports and updates about their manufacturing processes.
ClearPeaks built an end-to-end BI solution that began with requirements gathering and culminated in the final implementation and maintenance phase. By working closely with the UCIC IT Team, ClearPeaks prepared them to manage reports independently once the project had finished. ClearPeaks’ business-oriented methodology complemented UCIC’s technical approach, training users to fully understand reporting tool functionalities, such as:
· Needs-based customised reports
· Information layout
· Improved user-friendliness and reporting tool relevance
First of all, ClearPeaks needed to understand the carton manufacturing industry and UCIC’s internal organization in order to analyse and develop the perfect solution for the company’s specific necessities, such as creating reports for ten different functional departments. As UCIC already had a manufacturing-based source system in place, ClearPeaks developed a totally customised BI solution to suit functional and source system requirements. ClearPeaks decided to build the application from scratch instead of using an out-of-thebox solution, thus facilitating faster and more cost-efficient delivery.
The ClearPeaks Project
Aware of the benefits of a reporting system on top of their existing transactional systems, CPMS and BAAN, UCIC had opted for the implementation of Oracle BIEE; however, faced with the challenge of first creating a highly customised and consolidated Data Warehouse (DWH) on top of their transactional systems, UCIC turned to ClearPeaks to design and create and end-to-end BI solution. The ClearPeaks team was sized to the scope of the project, comprising a Project Manager, two senior BI consultants and two BI analysts. The model was on- or off-site depending on the needs of each project phase.
In the initial requirements gathering and project definition phase, ClearPeaks was on-site with the UCIC IT Team, and having gained an in-depth understanding of the carton manufacturing industry, ClearPeaks defined the requirements of all company users and analyzed the data system. The consultants then created a design for the warehouse (ETL), including all the dimensions and tables necessary to create a DWH for the two transactional systems. The approval of this design led to the second phase: the consultants created a highly customised BI solution from scratch, on top of CPMS and BAAN, for ten departments in the company. In the final phase reports were built and the IT Team was given training in report requirements; with their new BI solution on top of the two transactional systems, UCIC end users are now able to query reports with tailored requirements to measure their objectives.
Customer Benefits
Thanks to the Business Intelligence solution provided by ClearPeaks, UCIC has achieved:
· More efficient workflow
· Reduced production and delivery costs
· Improved manufacturing performance
· Increased quality in the overall customer service
· Increased profit margins
· Single source of truth for all information
Next Steps
ClearPeaks continues to offer support and maintenance throughout the warranty period. Having created such a highly customized and complex solution, ClearPeaks looks forward to working together with UCIC on a long-term basis. See what UCIC has to say… “We have selected ClearPeaks as an OBIEE implementation partner following a very strict BI implementer selection process and I am now pleased to declare that our trust clearly has not misplaced. During the course of last year, ClearPeaks have proved to be a capable and committed BI partner covering the full spectrum of BI implementation including project management, training, unit testing and fine tuning. During the course of implementation, ClearPeaks team of consultants have demonstrated high levels of discipline, BI knowledge, experience and professionalism. All members of the team were hard working, cooperative and flexible individuals. I have a very good experience with ClearPeaks and if I have a chance in the future to select a BI partner I will not hesitate to select ClearPeaks.”
