Case Study

Visualization Solution for Manufacturer with Power BI

Client Background

The client is manufacturing services are designed to help manufacturers grow by removing common hurdles related to sourcing, inventory, project management, quality control, and logistics.

Each of our manufacturing services put transparency, efficiency, and reliability at the forefront so you can confidently depend on high-quality products being delivered on time and on specification.

Reap the benefits of client’s unbreakable global supply chain without any of the traditional risks.

Problem

One of the largest global manufacturers needed a way to monitor machines on their floor using a custom image of their machine layout. It was critical for them to have visibility of how their machines were performing to decrease down time.

They were not satisfied with the analytics they were getting from Cognos and in search of guidance as to which BI tool would best fit their unique requirements and security needs.

Assessment

To evaluate the data’s credibility and integrity in detail, we can assess the most important data aspects:

Reliable The data is reliable because it’s the database provided by client.

Original: The data is original because it’s real customer data about internal client database.

Comprehensive: The data is comprehensive because it includes all attributes of the customers.

Current: The data is current if we consider that I’m analyzing it from a recent snapshot of the database.

Cited: The data is cited because it’s from client’s internal database.

It’s important to address the data-privacy issues present in the license under which the data has been available to the public, which is based on client’s data privacy.

Since it’s fictional data from a fictional company, we can use it to analyze insights and trends.

Solution Delivered

Our team developed real-time dashboards, utilizing Microsoft’s Power BI data visualization and analytics tool.

In doing so this helped the client import and prepare custom visuals into a one-stop shop custom tool so that company employees are made aware of exactly how each machine is performing on the floor.

This model data allows business users analysis of the results.

After reviewing their unique needs, we designed, installed, and set up the client’s BI environment using Microsoft’s Power BI visualization tool and SQL Server.

In addition to the install, we provided comprehensive hands-on training and consulting including documented step-by-step instructions on:

Best practices for setting up Power BI security.

Pros, cons, & roadmap for using the data gateway.

Importing multiple data sources vs. direct data query to Power BI.

Power BI service automation & scheduling capabilities.

Developing role specific dashboards.

Standardizing reports with themes & templates.

Architecture Design-

Result/Outcome

The solution provides users the ability to react immediately to machine failures as well real-time visibility into any potential issues that could occur.

Thus, less time spent by IT pulling data for business users allowing the business the ability to act immediately, decreasing down time and saving time and money.

Our team has experts in the Business Intelligence field that can handle end-to-end BI solutions from data warehouse design and development, ETL (Extract, Transform, & Load), modeling, and data visualization.

We delivered demos to the client a week after completing the initial engagement. As a result, our blended delivery model saved them significant amounts of time and money on their project.

Through custom automation and the direct connection through the SQL Server, this solution provided them the ability to monitor real-time machine status and track issues, saving time and energy.

The newly uncovered data points lead to early discovery of issues, thus reducing machine downtime and significantly improving production.

Additionally, the implementation of a Power BI custom dashboard solution visually represented the exact machine location within the plant, drastically improving their coordination and shop floor efficiency.