Business Intelligence Excellence
Powerful Innovation Concept "Lean BI" with Emmi and MicroStrategy
Emmi (CH) implemented a new data warehouse architecture in a very short time and optimized reporting and analysis based on MicroStrategy.
Business Intelligence Excellence
Emmi (CH) implemented a new data warehouse architecture in a very short time and optimized reporting and analysis based on MicroStrategy.
Emmi AG, headquartered in Lucerne, is the largest dairy processing company in Switzerland and one of the most innovative premium dairies in Europe. The company generates around 50 percent of its sales abroad.
In Switzerland, Emmi focuses on the development, production, and marketing of a full range of dairy and fresh products, as well as on the production and sale of mainly Swiss cheese. Cheese specialties are the best sellers abroad, and lifestyle, convenience, and health products are the best sellers among the fresh products. Emmi has production facilities outside Switzerland in Chile, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Spain, Tunisia, Brazil, and the USA.
More information about Emmi can be found here.
Challenge
DWH/BI and the old reporting no longer supported international departments optimally
Consulting approach
Greenfield approach “Lean BI”: New DWH architecture and central reporting based on MicroStrategy
Customer benefits and solution
Fine-granular, fast reporting is the basis for more successful business decisions
Markus Blatter
Project Manager Lean ERP at Emmi
”valantic has kept all promises and fulfilled all requirements. It was and is a very pleasant collaboration.“
Marc Philipp
Managing Director at valantic Business Analytics Swiss
”At valantic, we always do what moves the customer forward. I found the atmosphere focused, but also very pleasant. We laughed a lot together.“
The challenge
The old reporting based on IBM Cognos Analytics plus a sub-optimal DWH architecture was showing its age and no longer provided the best support for the specialist departments. Due to the lack of transparency, some relevant data, functions, and analyses were not available to the internationally-oriented specialist departments or could only be implemented with great additional effort. These included data groupings, filters, and graphical dashboards for the clear visualization of the analysis results.
After a status quo assessment and a goal definition together with Emmi, valantic recommended investing in a new architecture to accelerate the Lean BI/Lean ERP project at Emmi as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Solutions & results in detail
The project is divided into two phases: Phase 1 with the new ERP Infor M3, new DWH and central reporting based on MicroStrategy went into productive use very quickly in February 2021. Phase 2, which came directly after that, includes the remaining reporting and the conversion and integration of additional local branch offices.
Overview: Switch to an innovative DWH automation and analytics platform
DWH architecture and MicroStrategy optimize reporting for international sales
A powerful BI architecture is designed to best support Emmi’s business goals. Together with valantic, the premium dairy therefore decided to rebuild substantial parts of the BI infrastructure, and at the same time, to optimize it. The architectural and functional shortcomings of the old solution suggested that a greenfield approach should be used consistently. From the very beginning, the project was a very high priority for top management and had an international focus. The goal of the two-phase project was initially to provide the key locations in the UK, Holland/Benelux, Canada, and the USA/California with a fast, efficient, and compact lean ERP/lean BI. These locations are already working on a uniform ERP platform and were therefore particularly suitable for a joint, optimized BI solution.
Lean BI should provide the most important analyses necessary to manage the business and make data-based decisions across the board. Lean ERP aims to keep the digital core of the most important business processes for international entities as small and compact as possible and to avoid special cases whenever possible.
Due to its lean architecture, the ERP Infor M3 and MicroStrategy were chosen as the powerful analytics and reporting front end. valantic worked with Emmi to roll out the Phase 1 solution and migrate the data quickly and without any significant delay. Use of the BI tool Trivadis biGENIUS has managed to keep the time-to-market very short. Just over three months after the start of the project, the new BI solution went into productive use in February 2021, and the results of Phase 1 of the project completely met the expectations of the specialist departments. The solution is “way, way better than what we had before,” says Markus Blatter, Project Manager Lean ERP at Emmi.
Fine-granular reporting improves planning and control
The new solution is not just more powerful, it is much easier to use. Analytical reports are now being used successfully, ones that could not be created with the old solution at all or only at great cost for the specialist departments and financial heads. New features include sales reports and ship-to-level reports, from which all locations benefit enormously. Here’s a specific example: A customer maintains four warehouses, but evaluations per warehouse were not previously possible at all, only evaluations per customer.
In addition to industry expertise and technical know-how, it is important that the chemistry is right for the successful course of the project. Emmi and valantic have worked very well together and with mutual appreciation.
“We at valantic always do what is best for the customer. I found the atmosphere very pleasant; we laughed a lot together. A huge compliment goes to Markus, who with his skills and experience managed to steer our ambitious project perfectly and lead it to success,” emphasizes Marc Philipp, Managing Director at valantic Business Analytics Swiss AG.
Emmi project manager Markus Blatter particularly emphasizes the very pragmatic and professional cooperation.” All promises were kept, all requirements fulfilled. It was and is a very pleasant cooperation,” reports Blatter. In Phase 2 of the project, the remaining Cognos reports for the business units Finance and Supply Chain Management, among others, will be migrated to MicroStrategy and further improved. Step by step, more Emmi offices will have access to the Lean ERP/Lean BI innovation concept as a platform for making more successful decisions and achieving even greater business success.
Read more about how your company can create a modern BI platform for more successful business decisions with MicroStrategy on our Microstrategy partner page.
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Find out how Emmi, in collaboration with valantic, quickly implemented a new data warehouse architecture and optimized reporting and analysis based on MicroStrategy.
Marc Philipp
Managing Director & Partner