IBM Case Studies Gaining greater insight into P&L across the organization with centralized analytics

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	Gaining greater insight into P&L across the organization with centralized analytics IBM

Gaining greater insight into P&L across the organization with centralized analytics

IBM

Technology Category	Analytics & Modeling - Big Data Analytics Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics
Applicable Industries	Consumer Goods
Use Cases	Demand Planning & Forecasting Predictive Quality Analytics
Services	Data Science Services
Challenge	WD-40 Company, a global marketing organization, faced a significant challenge in analyzing its profit and loss (P&L) due to data being held in different systems. This lack of a clear view of P&L by customer, region, or stock-keeping unit (SKU) was hindering decision-making. The complexity of the company's internal financial landscape, with multiple international subsidiaries, and customer and SKU data stored at different levels of granularity, made it extremely challenging to analyze P&L in different parts of the business. Gaining an overview of the profitability of a particular customer, region, or SKU was a laborious, manual process – and in most cases, it was simply too time-consuming to perform this kind of analysis on a regular basis. Read More
About Customer	WD-40 Company is a global marketing organization headquartered in San Diego. The company is dedicated to creating positive lasting memories by developing and selling products that solve problems in workshops, factories, and homes in more than 176 countries around the world. As a supplier of leading industrial and consumer product brands to retailers across the globe, WD-40 Company has a complex internal financial landscape, with multiple international subsidiaries, and customer and SKU data stored at different levels of granularity. Read More
Solution	To solve the challenge, WD-40 Company engaged Aviana, an IBM Premier Business Partner, to help develop a solution. The Aviana team built a data mart that centralized the P&L data into a single source of truth, enabling rapid analysis and reporting using IBM Cognos Business Intelligence. This solution helped WD-40 Company’s finance teams understand business performance at a much deeper level than was previously possible – providing insight into profitability by SKU and customer, as well as by region and sales groups, and at different levels of aggregation. It also enabled users to analyze gross margin, contribution, and cost of goods sold (COGS). Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Big Data Analytics

Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics

Applicable Industries

Consumer Goods

Use Cases

Demand Planning & Forecasting

Predictive Quality Analytics

Services

Data Science Services

Challenge

WD-40 Company, a global marketing organization, faced a significant challenge in analyzing its profit and loss (P&L) due to data being held in different systems. This lack of a clear view of P&L by customer, region, or stock-keeping unit (SKU) was hindering decision-making. The complexity of the company's internal financial landscape, with multiple international subsidiaries, and customer and SKU data stored at different levels of granularity, made it extremely challenging to analyze P&L in different parts of the business. Gaining an overview of the profitability of a particular customer, region, or SKU was a laborious, manual process – and in most cases, it was simply too time-consuming to perform this kind of analysis on a regular basis.

About Customer

WD-40 Company is a global marketing organization headquartered in San Diego. The company is dedicated to creating positive lasting memories by developing and selling products that solve problems in workshops, factories, and homes in more than 176 countries around the world. As a supplier of leading industrial and consumer product brands to retailers across the globe, WD-40 Company has a complex internal financial landscape, with multiple international subsidiaries, and customer and SKU data stored at different levels of granularity.

Solution

To solve the challenge, WD-40 Company engaged Aviana, an IBM Premier Business Partner, to help develop a solution. The Aviana team built a data mart that centralized the P&L data into a single source of truth, enabling rapid analysis and reporting using IBM Cognos Business Intelligence. This solution helped WD-40 Company’s finance teams understand business performance at a much deeper level than was previously possible – providing insight into profitability by SKU and customer, as well as by region and sales groups, and at different levels of aggregation. It also enabled users to analyze gross margin, contribution, and cost of goods sold (COGS).

Impact #1	The solution automates regular reporting tasks, freeing up time for finance teams.
Impact #2	It reveals insights into performance by analyzing P&L in different business areas.
Impact #3	The solution provides insight into profitability by SKU and customer, as well as by region and sales groups, and at different levels of aggregation.

Impact #1

The solution automates regular reporting tasks, freeing up time for finance teams.

Impact #2

It reveals insights into performance by analyzing P&L in different business areas.

Impact #3

The solution provides insight into profitability by SKU and customer, as well as by region and sales groups, and at different levels of aggregation.

Benefit #1	2 to 3 days per month saved on complex deductions analysis and reporting.

Benefit #1

2 to 3 days per month saved on complex deductions analysis and reporting.

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Overview

Gaining greater insight into P&L across the organization with centralized analytics

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit