Information Builders Case Studies Siemens Improves Forecasting With WebFOCUS

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	Siemens Improves Forecasting With WebFOCUS Information Builders

Siemens Improves Forecasting With WebFOCUS

Information Builders

Technology Category	Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
Applicable Functions	Procurement Sales & Marketing
Use Cases	Predictive Maintenance Supply Chain Visibility
Services	Data Science Services System Integration
Challenge	Siemens Energy, a division of Siemens AG, is a leading supplier of products, services, and solutions for power generation plants. The company's Replacement Parts and Fleet Services division faced a significant challenge in accurately forecasting the availability of essential replacement parts. These parts have complex delivery schedules, long lead times, and are of tremendous value to power plant operations. The sales reps had difficulty forecasting the availability of these parts, which could lead to a standstill of an entire plant and cause significant financial loss. The division used an SAP R/3 enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to manage orders and requisitions. However, the sales reps needed a more efficient way to examine sales orders and monitor the supply chain to ensure timely delivery of parts. Read More
About Customer	Siemens AG is a globally operating technology company with nearly 360,000 employees working in four sectors: Energy, Healthcare, Industry, and Infrastructure and Cities. The Energy division is the world’s leading supplier of products, services, and solutions for power generation plants. The company is also well known for its renewables, power transmission grids, and its skill in the extraction, processing, and transport of oil and gas. Siemens’ Energy sector has annual revenues of €26.6 billion and employs approximately 83,500 people. Many of them work in the Service division, which helps maintain approximately one-fifth of all large-scale and industrial power plants worldwide. These customers often rely on Siemens’ equipment for several decades, so having outstanding programs for replacement parts is essential. Read More
Solution	Siemens Energy implemented Information Builders' WebFOCUS business intelligence (BI) and analytics platform to better foresee customer needs. The WebFOCUS SAP adapter was used to pull data from the ERP system, stage the data on a reporting server, and analyze the data to create alerts through applications, dashboards, and reports. A forecasting dashboard was created to provide sales reps with a glance at whether orders can shift based on each customer's requested delivery date. An Alert Dashboard was also created to give reps an even better way to examine sales orders. The Alert Dashboard segments the alerts based on each user's role and department. For example, workers in Purchasing receive alerts if there are issues with purchase orders. The system also consolidates all red alerts into one email message, saving customer service reps lots of time. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration

Applicable Functions

Procurement

Sales & Marketing

Use Cases

Predictive Maintenance

Supply Chain Visibility

Services

Data Science Services

System Integration

Challenge

Siemens Energy, a division of Siemens AG, is a leading supplier of products, services, and solutions for power generation plants. The company's Replacement Parts and Fleet Services division faced a significant challenge in accurately forecasting the availability of essential replacement parts. These parts have complex delivery schedules, long lead times, and are of tremendous value to power plant operations. The sales reps had difficulty forecasting the availability of these parts, which could lead to a standstill of an entire plant and cause significant financial loss. The division used an SAP R/3 enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to manage orders and requisitions. However, the sales reps needed a more efficient way to examine sales orders and monitor the supply chain to ensure timely delivery of parts.

About Customer

Siemens AG is a globally operating technology company with nearly 360,000 employees working in four sectors: Energy, Healthcare, Industry, and Infrastructure and Cities. The Energy division is the world’s leading supplier of products, services, and solutions for power generation plants. The company is also well known for its renewables, power transmission grids, and its skill in the extraction, processing, and transport of oil and gas. Siemens’ Energy sector has annual revenues of €26.6 billion and employs approximately 83,500 people. Many of them work in the Service division, which helps maintain approximately one-fifth of all large-scale and industrial power plants worldwide. These customers often rely on Siemens’ equipment for several decades, so having outstanding programs for replacement parts is essential.

Solution

Siemens Energy implemented Information Builders' WebFOCUS business intelligence (BI) and analytics platform to better foresee customer needs. The WebFOCUS SAP adapter was used to pull data from the ERP system, stage the data on a reporting server, and analyze the data to create alerts through applications, dashboards, and reports. A forecasting dashboard was created to provide sales reps with a glance at whether orders can shift based on each customer's requested delivery date. An Alert Dashboard was also created to give reps an even better way to examine sales orders. The Alert Dashboard segments the alerts based on each user's role and department. For example, workers in Purchasing receive alerts if there are issues with purchase orders. The system also consolidates all red alerts into one email message, saving customer service reps lots of time.

Impact #1	Employees have a central place to detect issues and examine ERP data.
Impact #2	WebFOCUS gathers and analyzes pertinent information and offers advice about how to proceed.
Impact #3	The Alert Dashboard gives the sales team one place to look for issues.

Impact #1

Employees have a central place to detect issues and examine ERP data.

Impact #2

WebFOCUS gathers and analyzes pertinent information and offers advice about how to proceed.

Impact #3

The Alert Dashboard gives the sales team one place to look for issues.

Benefit #1	One alert for unbilled items helped Siemens recover a substantial amount of revenue that could have been lost without the alert.

Benefit #1

One alert for unbilled items helped Siemens recover a substantial amount of revenue that could have been lost without the alert.

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Overview

Siemens Improves Forecasting With WebFOCUS

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit