Extracting, analyzing and visualizing your data are key factors in successfully transforming complex process data into insightful decisions. Power BI gives users the tools they need to translate data into strategies that secure the future of the business. The Power BI solution delivers key insights across the product lifecycle, and in this success story we show how Power BI helped one company revolutionize the use of data across all its departments.
Challenge: Collect data from different systems to visualize the production plan to different departments.
Solution: Customized Microsoft Power BI reports linked to data sources from across the company.
Result: A more efficient and data-driven production with less manual work. The BI solution has now been expanded to include purchasing, warehousing, quality assurance and additional departments.
Visualization of production
When the production planner at an international pharmaceutical company wanted to visualize the production plan at the company's manufacturing facility, little did he know that it would ultimately help simplify processes throughout the product lifecycle and generate significant cost savings.
- Our initial challenge was to help the company simplify the availability of production plans and material requirements on different production lines to the rest of the business. To do that, we needed access to data from different systems, including the ERP and planning systems. The best and fastest way to do that was with Microsoft Power BI," says Lydia Söderlund, Senior Consultant in Supply Chain & Production.
From overviews to specific product information
Microsoft Power BI is a powerful data analysis tool that collects, filters and visualizes complex data from different sources. Using intuitive design templates, data can be made accessible and put into a context that makes it easier to understand. In the customized solution we made for this client, production staff can visually see the production plan from the planning system and click on specific products to see order details stored in the ERP system.
- Once we finished the initial solution, it also quickly became apparent that it could offer more benefits than we had initially anticipated. While the different teams could easily see and follow the production plan, the maintenance team also had a tool to use to schedule maintenance and repairs.
Beyond the production line
Based on the success of the solution, additional processes have been added to provide a more integrated perspective on the product lifecycle. Visualizations of raw materials and stock balances have been developed, including product expiry dates. This supports the purchase planning process and ensures that production uses materials before their expiry date, minimizing potential waste. A visualization of physical storage units helps to ensure that products are always stored in optimal conditions. Even waste emissions are now monitored in a report to ensure compliance with regulations and that environmental impacts do not exceed planned levels.
"The difference in our approach before and after we got the raw material report is not just like night and day, it's like medieval times and millennium." Purchasing and planning manager, international pharmaceutical company.
Delivering added value through business-critical insights
In order to make good analyses of your processes, you often need data from several different systems, something that can be incredibly time-consuming to do manually. Today, the company uses Microsoft Power BI for everything from deviation management and monitoring batch status to planning production line staffing needs. Thanks to the automated solution, the company has gained greater insight into its processes and made significant cost savings.
- All reports have been created from existing data in the company's various systems. "We have simply made the customer's data available and increased transparency in a way that would have been incredibly time-consuming to do manually. Thanks to an integrated platform, it enables better and more informed decisions in the business," Lydia concludes.
Are you interested in knowing how we can help you and your company achieve greater efficiency through smart data management supported by Power BI, for example? Contact Lydia or one of her colleagues.
Pst! Read more about Power BI in the article Exploiting the full potential of your data & unifying information islands with Microsoft Power Platform.
