Business analytics has become an essential asset for companies of all sizes, from larger corporations to small and medium-sized companies. Why? Because business intelligence (BI) solutions can give companies of any size a competitive advantage and take their business operations to a whole new level. The usage of business intelligence tools involves gathering all available information, processing and analyzing it at such a high speed that a human would not be able to reach without the help of AI.
In this article, I want to show you real-life examples of implementation of business intelligence technology that proves that BI really works. Keep reading!
1. Coca-Cola Bottling Company enhanced operational efficiency
About the company: Coca-Cola is the largest beverage corporation in the world, with over 500 brands and 3,900 product names. Coca-Cola Bottling Company Consolidated (CC BCC) is Coca-Cola's largest independent bottling partner.
Challenge: The majority of the team's time was spent creating reports. Such manual reporting processes limited access to real-time sales and transaction data.
Solution: With the help of the business intelligence platform, the team automated the reporting processes manually, saving more than 260 hours a year - more than six 40-hour working weeks. Due to the automation of reports, the sales department receives timely information through mobile dashboards.
According to 360Suite, the global BI adoption rate across all organizations is 26%.
2. Allrecipes discovered marketing trends using a BI tool
About the company: Allrecipes is the world's largest digital food brand, serving 85 million home chefs worldwide on 18 websites in 23 countries and in 12 languages.
Challenge: The inability to track the reaction and actions of consumers in real-time in connection with changes or improvements on the site. Difficulties with sharing information and insights between departments.
Solution: By implementing the business analytics tool into the company's business processes, Allrecipes’s employees are able to use reports no matter where they are. Also, dashboards provide real-time information about customer behavior on the site and track key performance indicators (KPI).
3. Addepto's BI solution in the manufacturing industry
About the company: Leading manufacturing company that uses parts and components to manufacture finished goods. It employs machines, robots, and humans to produce the products as well as a production line, which allows a product to be assembled step-by-step, moving from one workstation to the next.
Challenge: Transactional databases and Excel spreadsheets cannot fully keep up with the company's current needs for flexibility and intelligent reporting. The company needs data structuring to meet quality requirements.
Solution: Addepto implemented an AI-powered BI system for better decision-making support, using dashboards and reports. These dashboards also improve operational and management reporting. The developed BI system supports marketing, operations, business, sales, and HR departments.
4. SKF optimized production processes
About the company: SKF is a global manufacturer and supplier of bearings, seals, mechatronics and lubrication systems in Sweden with 17,000 distributors.
Challenge: Replace сomplicated Excel files that are used for constant demand forecasting manufacturing modifications with an automated technological unified platform.
Solution: Thanks to the centralization of data in a single BI system, SFK could quickly exchange data and analysis results between several departments, including sales, production planning, application development, business development and management.
According to Accenture, 67% of the global workforce have access to business intelligence tools.
5. BBK Group improved sales forecast estimations by 95%
About the company: BBK Group, a large group of enterprises in China, covering a wide range of retail, commercial real estate, e-commerce, Internet finance, logistics and transport.
Challenge: The main problem is sales forecasting, which leads to difficulties with inventory and сustomer dissatisfaction.
Solution: By implementing business analytics tools and algorithms, the company obtains such indicators as time, weather, season, temperature, the historical flow of customers, working area of the store, etc. As a result, the accuracy of the forecast of the flow of customers in the store has reached 95%.
Mobile BI is growing fast, and it’s projected to increase its value from $4.1 billion in 2016 to $16 billion in 2023.
More benefits of business intelligence technology
If you still have doubts about the BI implementation in your company, below I have given more examples of the advantages of business intelligence technology:
- data-driven decision making,
- better data quality,
- improved customer support and satisfaction,
- hyper-personalized marketing,
- enhanced business strategies,
- increased revenues and sales,
- increased productivity,
- the emergence of new opportunities in the market.
How to get started
No matter what kind of project you have, you have two options on how to implement your business intelligence strategy: outsourcing or in-house.
Outsourcing enables you to hire professionals with the necessary knowledge and skills in a specific field. By choosing this model, you will get more possibilities. You will be able to choose the best team for your BI project to help you in integrating your ideas into the company's business operations.
On the other hand, an in-house team is a group of people recruited one at a time to work in your company. In this case, you will be looking for professionals, conducting interviews, asking questions, and monitoring all aspects of the recruiting and work processes.
What should you choose?
Each strategy is appropriate for different cases and requirements. If you have a big company and want to always have a team available or even outsource it, you need to invest money and spend time building an in-house team. However, if you are the owner of a startup, do not want to grow your own team, or need to implement only one project, a business intelligence consulting company is your best option.
Of course, the decision may not seem to be simple. But first, analyze your company's needs and goals, then consider the benefits and downsides of these two options. I am sure that your business will grow both using outsourcing resources and within the in-house team.