Performance insights and business data gathering is an important part of any organisation, but reports have shown that over a third of data collected is never analysed, meaning leaders could be missing vital information and useful insights that could lead to opportunities.
Business intelligence (BI) is more than simply the mass gathering of data, but the ability to quickly and easily support multiple business functions such as sales, marketing, finance and operations, in taking on tasks such as quantitative analysis, measuring performance against goals, identifying new opportunities and, crucially, gaining customer insights.
Using this approach can greatly enhance how data is used to answer key questions and make decisions.
How can you use BI?
As organisations become ever-more reliant on digital products for support, it has never been more important that decision making is grounded in reliable, robust information – meaning BI solutions are gaining popularity and heralding a new era for businesses.
Financial management
BI is able to analyse a variety of financial data to develop insight into profit and loss, costs, material use, overheads and much more. During an unstable economy, it is more important than ever to develop accurate budgets, identify cost-reductions and look at the future with profitability forecasts encompassing the whole operation.
Production management
By adopting machine learning, BI can support the teams on the ground by predicting machine failure and alert routine maintenance, preventing issues before they arise allowing operators to plan alternative production, and reduce downtime.
Supply chain monitoring
Utilising BI tools organisations can predict what materials and products will be needed by customers within set timescales, meaning they can be produced when – and in the quantity – needed to satisfy predicted demand, and over-production, or out-of-stock scenarios, can be avoided.
Within the supply chain, BI can also be used to understand logistics including delivery times, costs and even sustainability issues such as carbon impact. This puts the power with the manufacturer to ensure stock is transported as efficiently, cost-effectively and environmentally friendly as possible.
BI is not just about incremental cost savings through marginal gains productivity – spinning the wheel faster may make things quicker, but it could be more costly in the long run with a reduction in quality and standards alongside a growing technical ‘debt’. Instead, it offers the opportunity to review entire business operations, question the overall understanding and control over them, and use this to evolve or revolutionise what the business does, how it does it, and the tools it uses to deliver on its plan and achieve its objectives.