DeltaMaster at Bürkert: Company-wide from the outset
“Integration instead of standalone solutions” – that was the main objective of Michael Jungmann, Pricing Manager at Bürkert Fluid Control Systems, when it came to reorganizing reporting with a standard BI solution.
Authoritative results from any source system
“Reports were produced with various solutions here – ranging from direct queries in databases and a proprietary inhouse application to SAP BW,” explains Jungmann, “with the result that the reports contained the same KPI, but with different figures. So we often spent a lot of time discussing the differences in what were supposed to be identical figures instead of using them as a basis for corporate decisions. In short, our objective was an authoritative source of results for the entire company.” A standardized business intelligence software was to be used that enabled data to be gathered from any source system and evaluated from different perspectives.
Automated and ad-hoc analyses
Bürkert was keen on the ability to distribute evaluations automatically in the form of PDF reports. At the same time, users were to be able to retrieve analyses and KPIs easily in line with their individual information requirements.
DeltaMaster impressed in PoC
DeltaMaster impressed in PoC Bürkert invited three software providers to submit a proof of concept in order to compare their solutions for sales reporting, from simple statistics and prior-period comparisons to variance analyses. “This separated the wheat from the chaff,” recalls Jungmann. “Two providers had a big team working on their model for a whole week – and then showed maybe half of what was required in the final presentation. With Bissantz and the DeltaMaster software, it was entirely different: Bissantz actually managed to exceed some of the requirements with two people and three days of preparation. The DeltaMaster product won us over with its ease of use and high level of performance and flexibility, in terms of connectable data sources as well as the depth and breadth of analysis.
The keen perception of the Bissantz consultants and the in-depth understanding of our requirements were also impressive.” For example, Bissantz also provided potential solutions for sales planning, which was initially only a secondary concern for Bürkert. DeltaMaster contains integrated planning functions. They include components for bottomup and top-down planning, value fixing, and forwarding of values. These tools prompted Bürkert to use DeltaMaster for sales planning in addition to analysis and reporting.
Focus on sales planning and reporting
The number of people throughout the company who use DeltaMaster to evaluate data from SAP ERP and Microsoft Dynamics is around 500 – and counting. Sales is the largest user group, at around 350 people. The BI software is used here for planning: Revenue at customer level is planned between July and September, based on the figures from the two previous fiscal years. In addition, ongoing sales reporting is carried out with DeltaMaster. Employees can actively obtain information from ad-hoc analyses on a self-service basis. Alongside this, standardized PDF reports are sent by e-mail daily, weekly, or monthly.
Pricing, Finance, Purchasing
Pricing Management uses DeltaMaster for price and margin analyses in dimensions such as region, customer, and product. Financial reporting (balance sheet, P&L, cash flow) is also shown in DeltaMaster. Furthermore, Purchasing uses the BI software for evaluations of purchasing volumes, savings, price trends, etc.
DeltaMaster is also used to analyze material master data with the aim of identifying potential for a reduction in the number of variants and consequently the complexity of the product range.
More time to get things done
In DeltaMaster, Bürkert found the companywide source of results that it wanted – and in addition gained lots of time to use these results, as Jungmann confirms: “DeltaMaster helps us to get to data much more quickly. For example: Our price positioning strategy is based on regional price differentiation. Before DeltaMaster, I needed a whole week for analysis because I had to link the data manually and do this regularly, as I could only ever map an actual situation and had to start from scratch with new evaluations. Now I can do this at the touch of a button! This allows me to focus on interpreting the figures and active management instead of wasting time gathering data.”
Highlights
- Feeder systems SAP ERP and Microsoft
- Dynamics CRM
- Sales planning
- Self-service-based ad-hoc analyses
- Automatic distribution of PDF reports
- 500 users throughout the company
Bürkert
- World-class manufacturer of instrumentation and control (I&C) systems for liquids and gases
- 100 percent family-owned
- Sales network in 36 countries
- More than 2,500 employees worldwide, approx. 1,600 in Germany
- Product revenue €490 million (2017)