X

Scania Denmark, a world leader in the sales and service of heavy trucks and buses, faced several challenges. The company needed to improve coordination between sales, finance, service, production, and shipping. The production team required visibility into product performance, usage, and service. The IT staff was under pressure from producing multiple reports on IBM System i (AS/400) information. Scania Denmark was using a number of different applications on different platforms, including generic reporting systems. It was crucial for Scania to quickly retrieve and compile all necessary information, and train its organization to use this information proactively.

Schenker, a leading provider of integrated logistics services, was facing several challenges. The company wanted to maintain its status as one of the world's leading providers of integrated logistics services. It aimed to improve customer service quality with reliability and on-time delivery rates. Additionally, Schenker wanted to maximize cost efficiencies while minimizing its environmental footprint. The company needed a solution that could help it track and report on the status, location, and timing of shipments to improve on-time delivery and track container loads to ensure moving at capacity and minimizing fuel and environmental costs.

Schenker España, a leading Spanish shipping company and a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn (DB) Schenker, was in need of a global information analysis system that could be deployed in the shortest time possible. The company uses diverse technology platforms, each with corporate applications for each specific business area, and an SAP/R3 enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for financial and logistics management. These platforms include Windows, Citrix, VMWare, Oracle, and various UNIX/Linux-based systems. The company had evaluated various business intelligence (BI) tools and began to develop a pilot project with Business Objects, though this never became a reality. In addition, it had spent most of its available resources in the early stages.

SEB Group, a North European financial group, was facing challenges in gaining a better understanding of its insurance customers and portfolio. The company wanted to improve cross-selling of products and increase customer share of wallet. Additionally, SEB was looking to improve IT project management within its merchant banking division. The company spans four divisions of merchant banking, retail banking, wealth management, and life insurance for 400,000 corporate customers and institutions, and 5 million private customers. With ~300 billion in assets, SEB achieved ~$6 billion in revenue with 20,000 employees.

The Sistema de Emergencias Médicas (SEM) is a public enterprise within the Health Department assigned to the Servicio Catalán de la Salud (Health Department of Catalonia). It is responsible for handling outpatient casualties and emergencies as well as emergency medical transport via the emergency number. In the past year alone it has dealt with over four million calls. As part of its strategy for continuing improvement, the SEM decided to develop a system to increase actual speed and efficiency ratios in its service to the public. The system required a tool that would support the development of management control methodologies and, specifically, enable scorecard implementation across an organisation employing 701 staff and 3,720 associates with an annual budget of €245.7 million.

Shoppers Stop, a leading Indian retail department store, was facing challenges with its data analysis process. The company had been using traditional BI tools and Microsoft Excel for internal reporting, but the process was both limited and time-consuming. The team was seeking a new business discovery solution to improve its data analysis with the long-term goal of streamlining business operations and ultimately increasing sales. The company wanted to enable a 'self-service' data analysis model and increase the efficiency of data analysis.

Siemens Turbomachinery Equipment was facing challenges with their existing data analysis tool, Microsoft Excel, which was too static with limited performance and high administrative costs for data assessment. The assessments were only possible by calling in the IT department. The company wanted to improve the transparency of production, taking due account of the current manufacturing information available. They also aimed to achieve a significant reduction in the costs of producing key data and analyses. The firm’s various production processes accumulate between 200,000 and 500,000 sets of such data. Siemens Turbomachinery Equipment also wanted to make it possible for the various specialist units to call up and analyse key data without help from the IT department.

Siempelkamp Maschinen-und Anlagenbau, a machine and plant construction company, was facing challenges in maintaining transparency in their figures, project calculations, and deadlines. The construction of a plant can take 12-15 months from the planning stage to sign off, and throughout this period, all the managers involved must constantly make target/actual comparisons to ascertain progress status. The key questions were whether they were still within deadlines, whether all materials could be delivered and used on schedule, and whether all budgetary costs were being met. The company needed a tool that would allow them and indeed the users themselves, anytime and anywhere, to make the analyses and evaluations they needed for project control without having to rely on IT.

SI International, a leading provider of mission-critical information technology and network solutions to the U.S. Federal Government, was facing a challenge of centralizing and simplifying the flow of information into operational and management reports on more than 400 IT projects at more than 100 high-profile customer sites. The company was struggling with costly, hard-to-implement, and hard-to-maintain traditional BI initiatives. The company was delivering more than 400 customer-critical projects with employees at about 30 company offices and over 100 customer sites. The company supports federal government customers like the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of the Census, Federal Communications Commission and other Federal agencies.

The National University of Singapore (NUS) was tasked with the challenge of reinvigorating its industry learning process and building students' understanding of data analytics. The university wanted to bring practical industry experience into learning practices. Keith Carter, Adjunct Associate Professor at the Business School in Decision Sciences and APAC Regional President 1st Call Consulting, was given the task of developing a new curriculum that would engage students with the industry and practice, moving them away from a typical textbook learning method. He had only two weeks to develop this curriculum and was given a completely blank sheet to work from.

SinnerSchrader, one of the leading interactive agencies in Germany, was facing a challenge in controlling advertising across various communication channels due to its increasing complexity. The calculation of advertisement success indicators for extensive advertising campaigns was becoming more difficult in times of hybrid purchasing models and primary data sources. Furthermore, client-specific overviews needed to be quickly available for analysis and media consultancy.

Sony Europe, a leading Japanese manufacturer of electronic consumer products, was in need of a quick, reliable business intelligence (BI) solution capable of covering multiple analysis scenarios. The company, which had a turnover in Spain of €1.166 billion in 2009, recognized the need for a BI tool that could integrate various sources of information into a single BI environment. The company sought a solution that could assist with decision-making and increase the degree of independence of each of the business areas.

South Staffs Water, a water utility serving 1.29 million people and 38,000 businesses in the West Midlands of the United Kingdom, was facing a challenge of information overload. The company had over 100 static reports, making it difficult to develop a single version of the truth from their raw data. This data was housed in multiple sources including Oracle, Excel spreadsheet software, and Microsoft Access. The company needed to reduce these reports to between 20 and 30 to avoid complete information overload. Their vision was for one consolidated reporting front end that gave their users a single version of the truth. Additionally, the company was under constant scrutiny from the Office of Water Services (Ofwat), its regulator, and needed to meet external challenges from them.

Standard Life, a subsidiary of the Edinburgh-based Standard Life financial services group, was facing challenges in monitoring broker performance in near real time. The company was using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets with extracts from Microsoft SQL server data management software to prepare monitoring reports for distribution to management by email messaging. This process was laborious and time-consuming. Standard Life had two immediate priorities for any new business intelligence (BI) software. The first was for a persistency report showing which insurance policies have lapsed by broker for visibility by high ranking executives and actuaries. The second was to create a Management Information Pack with daily and monthly sales reports by broker for overview by senior management and sales managers.

Subaru Italia, the official importer of Subaru for Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia, faced several challenges. The company needed to improve sales, dealer and garage management with the flow of vehicle orders. They also needed to manage credits and invoicing processes more efficiently. The company was looking for an easy-to-use business analysis system that could adapt with the company’s growth. Subaru Italia had been using business intelligence software since 1996, but as the company grew and the database evolved, they needed a tool with faster and simpler development capabilities. The company also needed an easy-to-deploy, dynamic and flexible tool to improve the sales area and management of its several dealers and garages.

SunOpta, a leader in the natural and organic foods and natural health products markets, faced challenges in reporting and data analysis due to rapid growth and acquisitions. The company lacked overall visibility into companywide sales, finance, and operations. It also struggled to quickly integrate data from newly acquired or existing business units with differing enterprise software systems for shareholder reporting and strategic planning purposes. SunOpta needed to upgrade its existing disparate BI and reporting solutions, including Oracle BIEE, to maximize profitability with a daily view of gross profit performance and reduce inventory exposure and related costs.

Svedala Municipality was facing the challenge of controlling operating costs without jeopardizing service levels to constituents. They needed to analyze information from disparate data sources and deploy a solution that did not require support from expensive consultants. As a result of a major reorganization in the healthcare sector, managers with increased budget responsibility needed a tool that was easy to use. Previously, managers had been forced to manually print out and compare data from different systems to be able to review all costs associated with any given decision.

Paper Transport, a for-hire truckload carrier, was facing challenges in managing its fleet of trailers. The company's drivers were often frustrated by the time-consuming task of searching for empty trailers. This not only affected the drivers' job satisfaction but also resulted in significant productivity losses for the company. Every time a driver arrived at a trailer that wasn't empty, the company lost over $100 per hour in productivity, leading to a monthly loss exceeding $30,000. To address this issue, the company needed an efficient trailer tracking system with cargo sensing capabilities.

Summitt Trucking was facing several challenges with its previous trailer management solution. The hardware was unreliable and the cargo sensor readings were inaccurate. The company was also dissatisfied with the customer service provided by their previous telematics provider. The company was spending many hours troubleshooting without resolving the problem. In addition, they had to bear the shipping costs for returning the troubled units to the vendor. The company was also losing revenue as drivers had to spend time looking for empty trailers. The company estimated that it was losing about $500,000 or more annually due to this inefficiency.

Ernest Umeh, the owner of E-Challenger Transport Services, was concerned about the increasing instances of thefts related to vehicles like his. His truck was broken into, and the offender took the entire vehicle. Since Ernest had a Spireon professional install the GPS tracker on his truck, it was difficult to find and remove, so he was able to use FleetLocate to alert authorities of the vehicle’s exact location and recover it within a matter of hours.

Premier Trailer Leasing, a national provider of trailer rental and leasing services, was facing challenges in accurately tracking its trailer assets. The company had a trailer tracking provider in place, but the devices did not provide accurate data. The vendor was also not a reliable partner, changing ownership every 2 or 3 years, making it difficult for Premier to build a viable partnership. This lack of accurate tracking made it difficult for Premier to locate its assets for renting or leasing to the next customer. The company evaluated many different GPS trailer tracking solutions providers that were entering the market at the time.

Pool Agency, a pool service and repair company, was facing several challenges. They were unable to verify if/when drivers were on the job site, making it difficult to provide proof of job completion to customers. This was particularly problematic in the pool industry where environmental factors can quickly alter the appearance of a serviced pool. The company was also struggling with unauthorized usage of company vehicles, leading to unnecessary fuel expenses and increased wear and tear. Additionally, the manual tracking of vehicle maintenance was proving to be inefficient and led to overlooked services, resulting in expensive repairs.

ABM Industries Incorporated, one of the world’s largest building and facility services companies, faced challenges in tracking project activities and assuring customers that their employees and equipment were at the right location at the right time. The company often received calls from customers questioning the number of hours billed for, as they didn't believe the technician was on-site for the duration claimed. Prior to the implementation of a new fleet tracking solution, ABM locations never knew for sure where the company vehicles were. When emergency calls came in, it could take 30 to 45 minutes for dispatchers to call the drivers, check the dispatch logs, and identify which technician was the closest who could respond. The company also wanted to improve employee safety by being able to monitor vehicle location and view diagnostic and maintenance information for the company trucks.

ABM Building Services was previously using a GPS tracking software that was not meeting the company’s expectations. The software had slow updates and inaccurate location data as well as inaccurate reporting, which made it tough to audit time cards. They knew they wanted to look for a new provider once their contract expired. Once they were back on the market for a new GPS tracking provider, there were a few new concepts considered. They were comparing cost of purchase vs. cost of rental. They were also conscious of contracts this time around. They did not want to work with another GPS vendor that would lock them into a long contract. The company was also looking for a user-friendly dashboard interface that had the ability to customize views. Each dispatcher needs to view different locations and service vehicles, so the ability for each dispatcher to have their own login with their own custom dashboard was critical.

Whitton Companies, a residential home construction company, was facing challenges in efficiently dispatching vehicles to customer sites. The process was manual and time-consuming, involving receiving a customer call, looking up the address online, and printing out a map for the driver. The company also lacked real-time vehicle location data, making it difficult to confirm if field supervisors were at the job site when they were supposed to be. Additionally, Whitton Companies needed a GPS tracking solution that could integrate with their enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, which they use to manage all data throughout their organization.

In 2009, Crescent Electric Supply Company, decided to implement a GPS fleet tracking initiative. They were having a hard time trying to quantify and evaluate their fleet and personnel. Their delivery service needed to make significant improvements in both the number of deliveries made and the time it took to complete the deliveries. They also wanted to track total mileage, cost per mile, and cost per ticket. They knew that a GPS tracking solution would improve their delivery process, uncover unknown issues with their fleet, and provide the metrics they needed to monitor costs.

Plumbing Medic, a plumbing company based in Gilbert, AZ, was facing several challenges related to their fleet management. They needed to know the current locations of their vehicles as they carried expensive equipment and parts. The company also wanted to improve time management and accountability of their mobile workforce. Since their drivers were spread out all over the Phoenix metropolitan area, they had no way to know what they were doing in between jobs. The last major challenge that Plumbing Medic was looking to solve with a GPS tracking solution was eliminating fuel card fraud. They needed a way to monitor fuel usage, when and where their technicians were filling up on fuel, and how many miles were driven to ensure all purchases were legitimate.

Valet Waste, a national provider of doorstep trash and recycling collection in the multi-family industry, was facing several challenges with their fleet management. They had previously used a fleet management system, but it did not meet their expectations. The company wanted to increase efficiency, monitor driver behavior, and validate ‘how is my driving’ calls. They also needed a way to cut the amount of time employees spent logging tasks in the customer service database and increase productivity at each property. Furthermore, they wanted to keep drivers safe by monitoring driver behavior and promoting good driving habits. Lastly, they were aware of the additional benefits that an advanced GPS tracking system could provide such as better fuel, time, safety, and maintenance management.

Quik Pik-All Over Towing had tried three GPS tracking systems prior to GPS Insight. The company was in the market for a product that had superior software and would give them full control of their fleet. The real issue with the other providers was their refresh rate and location accuracy. The refresh rates were too slow for Joe’s business, showing trucks in locations they were no longer in. Accurate GPS tracking technology is extremely important for Quik Pik-All Over Towing, as the nature of the towing business, being primary responders to accident scenes with PD, Fire, and Rescue, absolutely requires them to know the exact location of all their trucks for making instantaneous decisions for dispatching, ensuring quick response times to calls.

Kennecott Utah Copper’s (KUC) operation is unique in that its vehicles don’t traverse great distances but are spread out across a 25 mile stretch of land, which made it difficult to manage their large fleet of vehicles. The most significant issue they were having was in monitoring and policing their idle activity. Equipment would be left idling for hours on end, and managers knew they were producing large amounts of Green House Gas (GHG) as a result. The excessive idling was also leading to warranty issues. Kenny Harvey added, “As our equipment idled we lost valuable warranty coverage due to the fact that the manufacturers of our Light and Heavy Equipment were basing warranty coverage off of hours run, not miles driven.” Equipment utilization was also an issue. They needed to find a way to track equipment utilization in order to improve efficiency and vehicle availability by right-sizing their fleet. These issues needed to be addressed to ensure vehicles were operating efficiently throughout and completing their contractual or operational lifecycle.