Complex BI-systems simplified for packaging supplier

Inconsistent and complex data situation due to multiple BI systems

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Smurfit Kappa had been using BI solutions for data analysis in sales, production, and quality control. However, they had various BI systems in place for different departments, which presented the company with several challenges. First, the different systems made it impossible to analyze all data in a combined report. Second, the different systems produced different analysis, making it extremely difficult for the decision-makers to evaluate the data from a strategic perspective and left too much room for interpretation and discussion. Lastly, the multitude of systems generated an enormous amount of work — both in maintenance and in adaptation to accommodate changing business requirements.

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For these reasons, Smurfit Kappa decided to convert their system and use a consolidated BI solution for all levels of the organization. This was to create "single source of truth" — one entry point to perform all data analysis and a uniform, reliable data solution.

Harmonized data warehouse solution through implementation by biGENIUS

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In their search for a solution, Smurfit Kappa's managers evaluated various data warehouse automation solutions. They compared them based on all relevant factors such as cost or ease of use. After a pilot test and many positive experiences, they decided in favor of biGENIUS and a collaboration with the Trivadis experts.

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Since then, the various data sources have been integrated step by step into the new data warehouse solution with biGENIUS. In the initial phase, the biGENIUS experts took over the setup and development of the solution. In this way, Smurfit Kappa's internal managers did not have to learn the tool at too early a stage and saved resources. In the meantime, the company is driving the implementation independently. However, it is in very close contact with the biGENIUS team and can clarify any questions or problems together with them or access the biGENIUS support portal directly for this purpose.

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In the very good cooperation between the two teams, the Smurfit Kappa project team also provided very valuable input for improving biGENIUS.

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Regarding the implementation of the data warehouse, the decision was made to use Data Vault modeling. This approach has the advantage that the many different data sources are easier to integrate compared to a dimensional modeling approach. However, the data model becomes far more complex and time-consuming to implement. This is exactly where the advantage of automation with biGENIUS comes in. With biGENIUS, even the complex Data Vault model could be implemented very efficiently. Since biGENIUS now generates the entire code automatically, this problem was reduced to a minimum.

Consolidated data management and visualization of all sources in only one solution

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With biGENIUS, Smurfit Kappa now has a tool that the team could easily get to know and can now further develop and operate the DWH themselves - while always having the option to fall back on the biGENIUS team and biGENIUS support portal. The combination of biGENIUS® and PowerBI is an enormous benefit for Smurfit Kappa: the entire business logic, loading process and data modeling are generated automatically by biGENIUS. This created the basis for being able to provide a powerful, easy-to-use model in the front end with PowerBI. The goal has been achieved: Smurfit Kappa can now combine data from all its different sources in one report or dashboard, evaluate it uniformly and display it. This laid the foundation for a robust solution that is also future-proof.