Business Intelligence specifically for the food industry
There is no lack of information in the average company in the food and beverage sector. There is an ever increasing administrative burden, mostly in conjunction with food safety regulations. How can you get the exact information you need from all that data, and at the time that you need that information, and what do you then do with all this information? When you have the right information available that you can extract directly from your various systems, you can take better decisions and take them more quickly. Your staff can even do this in their own domains. In this way decisions made are based on data from your own systems and the whole decision-making process is faster thus leading to greater efficiency.
What can Schouw Informatisering mean for you and your information supply?
Schouw Informatisering has specialists who, together with you, can analyse the information flows in your organisation and determine what your information requirements really are. Our specialists are familiar with the food and beverage sector and they know which measured values are important for your organisation. These measured values are then incorporated into one or more models, for example for sales or production. The advantage of Schouw Informatisering’s Business Intelligence (also known as BI) is that it doesn’t require customisation. The measured values of the food and beverage sector are already known and incorporated into the models as these measured values are based on KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), known from the Norton and Kaplan Balanced Score Card model.
Business Intelligence structure with Microsoft SQL Server
BI combined with Microsoft SQL Server will enable you to apply the principles of management by exception. On the dashboard in Excel you will see traffic lights showing growth directions, drawing your attention immediately to exceptions in your company. You can then further examine each traffic light and you will gain insight into what is causing these developments. For example, you can look at the monthly turnover and then zoom in on the turnover per day. You and your staff will be able to use the models to make quick analyses that will form the basis for better decision making. If you would prefer to see the data in another application rather than Excel, then this is also possible with Microsoft SQL Server.
Sales and purchasing model
With the sales and purchasing model you and your staff will gain insight into the differences between budget and actual for sales and/or purchasing. You will be able to see sales for the most recent period at a glance from various dimensions, for example based on clients, products, product groups, campaigns, sales representatives, branches, margin, and so on. On the purchasing side you will gain insight into the suppliers, purchasing per raw material, number of kg, and so on.
Production model
The production model will provide you and your staff with an understanding of the efficiency and effectiveness of your production processes. You will be able to compare the actual production output and the consumption of raw materials and components with the planned quantities and standards set. And this information is presented in terms of units produced, kg produced as well as costs incurred. This model will also help you gain insight into the performance of your production department, with overviews per machine and labour capacity. Planned and actual time taken can be compared to the capacity available in production.
Financial model
Using the financial model you and your staff will gain insight into the financial status of your clients, suppliers and your own organisation. You will be able to examine the items open for your clients, so that you can see at a glance the number of days an invoice, for example, is outstanding. In addition you can use this model on the purchasing side, for example, to examine the amounts you owe to your suppliers. The financial model will also give you insight into your own general ledger.
Future models
Sometimes our existing models do not go far enough for a company in the food and beverage sector. So this is why, at Schouw Informatisering, we are continually developing additional models. The newest BI models are made available with each new release of SI Foodware. A new release of SI Foodware will not affect the existing BI models as these are always adjusted to the latest releases of Dynamics NAV and SI Foodware.
Integration
A keyword for all new Microsoft products is integration, and that also applies to BI with Microsoft SQL Server. Microsoft is constantly improving the way products work together, irrespective of whether or not they are Microsoft’s own products. This means that different applications can easily make use of the same SQL Server data. For example it is now possible to feed data from an SQL Server to a website via Microsoft SharePoint.
More information
The information requirements and the systems for storing data differ per company. We would be happy to discuss with you how we can gather and structure the right information in your organisation. If you would like to make an appointment with one of our BI specialists or just receive more information, please do not hesitate to contact us, by phone: +31 (0)76 5042520 or by e-mail: sales@schouw.org. We want you and your staff to make analyses quickly, so you can take better decisions.