Transforming Data into Insights: AutoX Implements a Modern Data Platform
Solution overview
Industry
Solution
Data Literacy Programme
Location
Client
Requirement
The Client
AutoX is a leading South African automotive lead acid battery manufacturer, wholesaling to local and selected African and European markets with well-known brands, serving both the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and aftermarket sectors through the Automotive division.
Under the Rentech division, AutoX is a dedicated importer and provider of renewable energy products and turnkey solutions to domestic, commercial, and industrial sectors servicing the retail and EPC markets. The AutoX product range includes inverters, solar panels, lithium, and lead acid batteries.
AutoX supports the South African Motorcycle market through its Autocycle division providing OEM and retail markets with quality imported product ranges inter alia batteries, helmets, tyres and smaller components & accessories for motorcycle and golf cart use.
The Requirement
The company works in a challenging and competitive market and the team wanted insights that would give them visibility into which markets required more focus, where they could optimise, and where they could improve quality. They realised the need to implement more than just a robust data platform which would provide the visibility they needed, but they also wanted to invest into a data literacy programme that would ensure the team got the most value from its data platform.
Previously, AutoX’s analysis process was extremely manual. There were disparate data between team members, and limited historical audit trail of how the data changed over time. Decision-making was onerous & reactive, leaving the business with gaps in its overview of what was happening in a timeous manner. The entire team was not data literate and was not making use of data to drive their decision-making.
AutoX wanted both a comprehensive data literacy programme and an intelligence solution that would improve insights and management thereof in an efficient manner.
Decision Inc. was selected through a tender process with the following requirements:
- Guidance to develop a modern data platform
- Assist with integration of critical SAP & excel data into a data platform.
- Implementation of a business intelligence platform
- Defining key report requirements to assist business decisions
- Training and maintenance on modern reporting and analytics tools
The Solution
Decision Inc. started the process with a modernised data platform on the AutoX data management side with the Business Intelligence Analytics (BIA) team and leveraged the capabilities of Microsoft Power BI. This was supported by a data literacy programme that included data literacy classes and technology sessions that ran over several months to ensure that all those working with the data could manage and interpret it intelligently.
Decision Inc.’s data experts recommended making use of Azure ETL and storage with Microsoft PowerBI for visualisation. This would allow AutoX to build data models quickly and easily, and to access on-demand analytics and insights from their SAP and other data sources.
Decision Inc. implemented the solution in three stages:
Data Integration
The Azure Data Factory was used to integrate the data from SAP into a central data warehouse. This data warehouse was hosted on Azure Blob Storage.
Data Modeling
Microsoft SQL was used to build data models for the different business areas of AutoX. These data models would allow AutoX to analyze their data and to identify trends and patterns.
Data Reporting & Business Intelligence
Power BI Pro was used to create dashboards and reports for AutoX’s users. These dashboards and reports would provide AutoX with the insights they needed to make better decisions.
Decision Inc.’s specialist trainers also trained the AutoX team on how to use the data & BI platform which ensured that AutoX would realise the most value out of the implemented solution.
The implementation of the Analytics solution was a success. AutoX was able to build data models, and they were able to access on-demand analytics and insights from their data. This resulted in time efficiencies, fact-based decision-making and improved business performance.
The Benefits
Since implementing the solution AutoX is now a data-driven organisation, with a data-literate workforce. They are able to optimise their business outcomes by accessing key analytical insights, achieving the following:
IMPROVED DECISION-MAKING
INCREASED EFFICIENCY
ENHANCED COLLABORATION
INCREASED AGILITY
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About Decision Inc.
Decision Inc. is a global leader in information-driven transformation with a core focus on data, digital and performance intelligence.
Our expertise in technology and industry specialisations have enabled us to help companies around the world make better decisions faster.
Our emphasis on local excellence and global scale enables us to bring clients best of breed technology solutions that enable significant improvement whilst leveraging our Global Research and Innovation teams to accelerate the time to insight. Our local consulting teams are experts in the implementation, support, and execution of these solutions and work with our clients to deliver real results and improvement.