CASE STUDY

Comprehensive reporting & data warehouse solutions for primary industry business in New Zealand

 

CHALLENGE & BRIEF

A leading primary industry client in New Zealand embarked on an ambitious IT change program to transform their data infrastructure and business processes.

They faced the following operational challenges:

  • Budget Management: Financial strain and conflicts due to poor budget management within contract systems.
  • Milestone Management: Struggles with monitoring contract deliverables, including both financial and non-financial milestones.
  • Manual Processes: Resource-intensive processes, especially around contract variations and renewals.

To address these challenges, the client engaged Walkerscott as their BI partner to drive data-driven change across the organisation. The goal was to deliver impactful solutions while minimising time and cost to market through an agile project engagement model.

SOLUTION

Enterprise Data Warehouse

An enterprise data warehouse was implemented using the on-premises Microsoft BI stack, including SQL Server, SSIS, SSRS, and SSAS. This solution leveraged the client’s existing on-premises investments, aligning with their preference to avoid cloud solutions.

Financial Reporting

A financial reporting solution was developed to analyse and report on forecasts and budgets using MS Dynamics Great Plains. This included:

  • Cost-Center Reporting: Set up on Power BI, empowering the finance team to build their own reports using a specifically created data model.
  • Training & Governance: Provided training to the finance team and assisted the IT team in setting up governance processes and environments.

      Sales and Production Reporting

      Walkerscott connected to the databases underlying the client’s proprietary on-premises applications to assist various teams:

      • Renewable Product Sales Team: Delivered sales reporting capabilities.
      • Operations Planning Team: Enabled sophisticated production reporting, including harvest tonnage by source versus planned production and crew workday productivity analysis.

      Ongoing Projects

      Walkerscott is currently enabling domestic and export renewable product delivery planning and customer allocation, as well as product defectivity reporting.

      System Review

      Walkerscott conducted a review of the client’s internally built business system to:

      • Provide an objective assessment of application design and architecture.
      • Evaluate business processes within the Operations and Logistics division.
      • Recommend potential service models for ongoing development and support, or introduction of commercial products.

      RESULTS

      Better data management, enhanced financial reporting, empowered teams, and strategic insights.

      • Improved Financial Oversight: The financial reporting solution enabled better analysis and reporting, leading to more accurate forecasts and budgets.
      • Empowered Teams: Training and empowering the finance team to build their own reports resulted in increased efficiency and autonomy.
      • Enhanced Decision-Making: Sophisticated production reporting for the operations planning team improved operational efficiency and productivity.
      • Objective System Assessment: The review of the internal business system provided valuable insights and recommendations for future improvements.

      CONCLUSION

      Successful data-driven change

      The partnership between the primary industry client and Walkerscott has been instrumental in driving data-driven change across the organisation. By adopting an agile approach and leveraging Microsoft’s BI stack, the client has seen significant improvements in their financial reporting, sales, and production reporting capabilities. This case study exemplifies the successful collaboration and the tangible benefits of a well-executed IT change program.

      While the on-premises Microsoft BI stack, including SQL Server, SSIS, SSRS, and SSAS, provided a robust foundation for our client’s enterprise data warehouse, the landscape of data solutions has evolved significantly. Today, Microsoft Fabric offers a comprehensive, cloud-based data platform that brings together data integration, data engineering, data warehousing, data science, real-time analytics, and business intelligence in a unified environment.

      Microsoft Fabric Logo

      Walkerscott is a specialist Microsoft Fabric implementation partner

      As the demand for more scalable, flexible, and efficient data solutions grows, transitioning to Microsoft Fabric can provide numerous benefits. Walkerscott specialises in helping organisations make this transition seamlessly. We can assess your current on-premises setup, design a migration strategy that leverages your existing investments, and implement a Microsoft Fabric solution tailored to your specific needs. This ensures you gain the advantages of modern cloud technology while maintaining continuity and maximising ROI on your previous infrastructure.

      For more information on how Walkerscott can help your organisation drive data-driven change, please contact us.