Information Builders Case Studies WESCO Standardizes on WebFOCUS, iWay Create Self-Service Support Environment

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	WESCO Standardizes on WebFOCUS, iWay Create Self-Service Support Environment Information Builders

WESCO Standardizes on WebFOCUS, iWay Create Self-Service Support Environment

Information Builders

Technology Category	Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
Applicable Industries	Electronics
Applicable Functions	Business Operation Procurement
Use Cases	Predictive Maintenance Supply Chain Visibility
Services	Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services Data Science Services
Challenge	WESCO International Distribution, a large, geographically dispersed company with 350 warehouses, 6,000 employees, 200,000 products, and more than 130,000 business customers worldwide, faced the challenge of centralizing decision-making and rolling up information in a timely manner. The company's aging information systems were due for an upgrade as they were not user-friendly and required assistance from professional analysts to execute many of the reports. Furthermore, the complex reporting infrastructure required database administrators to follow a tedious process to prepare the data for reporting, which took a significant amount of time. The company needed a Web-based solution that could automatically roll up and distribute reports to users in any format. Read More
About Customer	WESCO International, Inc. is a worldwide distributor of industrial and construction products. The company has 350 warehouses, 6,000 employees, 200,000 products, and more than 130,000 business customers worldwide. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and with annual sales of $3.7 billion, WESCO distributes industrial and construction products to manufacturers, data communications companies, and electric utilities. The company was an early adopter of data warehousing and decision support technology. However, the company’s aging information systems were due for an upgrade. Read More
Solution	WESCO chose Information Builders’ WebFOCUS to devise a powerful yet cost-effective standard framework for enterprise-wide business intelligence, analysis, self-service reporting, and making updates to production databases. Information Builders’ Consulting used WebFOCUS and iWay enterprise integration to help WESCO create an enterprise-wide self-service reporting environment, and then duplicated dozens of Pilot Lightship reports in WebFOCUS. They leveraged an existing security architecture created in Microsoft Windows NT to permit or deny access to these new reports based on previously established access requirements. WebFOCUS is installed on a Microsoft Windows NT server and communicates directly with Oracle, Teradata, and SQL Server databases through iWay gateways. WESCO developers appreciate having a mature fourth-generation language underlying the graphical toolset. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration

Applicable Industries

Electronics

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Procurement

Use Cases

Predictive Maintenance

Supply Chain Visibility

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services

Data Science Services

Challenge

WESCO International Distribution, a large, geographically dispersed company with 350 warehouses, 6,000 employees, 200,000 products, and more than 130,000 business customers worldwide, faced the challenge of centralizing decision-making and rolling up information in a timely manner. The company's aging information systems were due for an upgrade as they were not user-friendly and required assistance from professional analysts to execute many of the reports. Furthermore, the complex reporting infrastructure required database administrators to follow a tedious process to prepare the data for reporting, which took a significant amount of time. The company needed a Web-based solution that could automatically roll up and distribute reports to users in any format.

About Customer

WESCO International, Inc. is a worldwide distributor of industrial and construction products. The company has 350 warehouses, 6,000 employees, 200,000 products, and more than 130,000 business customers worldwide. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and with annual sales of $3.7 billion, WESCO distributes industrial and construction products to manufacturers, data communications companies, and electric utilities. The company was an early adopter of data warehousing and decision support technology. However, the company’s aging information systems were due for an upgrade.

Solution

WESCO chose Information Builders’ WebFOCUS to devise a powerful yet cost-effective standard framework for enterprise-wide business intelligence, analysis, self-service reporting, and making updates to production databases. Information Builders’ Consulting used WebFOCUS and iWay enterprise integration to help WESCO create an enterprise-wide self-service reporting environment, and then duplicated dozens of Pilot Lightship reports in WebFOCUS. They leveraged an existing security architecture created in Microsoft Windows NT to permit or deny access to these new reports based on previously established access requirements. WebFOCUS is installed on a Microsoft Windows NT server and communicates directly with Oracle, Teradata, and SQL Server databases through iWay gateways. WESCO developers appreciate having a mature fourth-generation language underlying the graphical toolset.

Impact #1	An enterprise standard reporting environment that has improved visibility throughout the enterprise, centralized management, and vastly decreased turnaround time for reports.
Impact #2	Saved millions of dollars in operational costs through improved supplier agreements.
Impact #3	Created a higher adoption rate for analytic tools.

Impact #1

An enterprise standard reporting environment that has improved visibility throughout the enterprise, centralized management, and vastly decreased turnaround time for reports.

Impact #2

Saved millions of dollars in operational costs through improved supplier agreements.

Impact #3

Created a higher adoption rate for analytic tools.

Benefit #1	Saved between 3 million and 5 million dollars by addressing key issues in claims agreements and supplier contacts.

Benefit #1

Saved between 3 million and 5 million dollars by addressing key issues in claims agreements and supplier contacts.

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Overview

WESCO Standardizes on WebFOCUS, iWay Create Self-Service Support Environment

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit