Power BI Supply Chain Analytics for Logistics Companies

How Power BI Supply Chain Analytics can help Logistics Companies turn Data into Actionable Insights

Success of any business depends a lot on timely decisions. In fact, one of the key qualities of a good CXO is how fast he/she decides and adapts oneself to changing market scenarios.

To make the right decision, it is important to have the visibility of data in the right format, at the right time. By right format, I mean something which is easily understandable and brings out the hidden value.

Wasting time on comprehending data could mean business loss. In our highly competitive world, one cannot afford to lose business. Let us take a look at an example listed below where logistics company implemented Power BI supply chain analytics.

Common challenges faced by decision-makers

A renowned supply chain and logistics provider company in US, having more than 1000 employees and multiple offices in Maryland and Texas, was on a path of growth, but struggled with poor visibility into sales data, profit and efficiency.

In addition to that, they were wasting their resources creating static reports that did not bring significant value to the table. Using ERP and MRP didn’t solve problems pertaining to reporting and tracking Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). It added to the complexity while pulling data from multiple sources.

Aside from above, with current reporting solutions, it was difficult to know the challenges beforehand that could potentially delay a container to reach its destination. Managers didn’t have visibility of data pertaining to truck health, weather conditions or a blocked route.

How Power BI Supply Chain Analytics can help Logistics Companies

Power BI helps unleash the power of your historical and real-time data to make better business decisions.

Tackling disruption – With rich insights from data analysis, you can forecast demand and resource utilization, as well as make better strategic decisions to save yourself from market disruptors.
Better visibility into data – Power BI Supply Chain Analytics, you can get the real-time view of what’s going on. Not only that, with ability to analyze data from multiple source feeds, you can see the bigger picture.
Mobile-friendly – With responsive and intuitive dashboards being mobile-friendly, you can access your data and reports from anywhere, anytime, which is not the case with other dashboarding and reporting tools such as Crystal Reports, SSRS, Excel etc.
Faster decision making – When zeroes and ones get converted into charts and reports, you can instantly measure the performance of various business functions and resources, and accordingly take decisions. You can find out the best and worst performing KPIs, see quarterly & yearly performance reports, and find out areas of improvement.
Secure as well as Collaborative – Power BI apps are secured with Azure AD and your customers will be able to collaborate on dashboards if you so choose.

Consider a scenario:

If one client is utilizing space of only a quarter of a truck, how do we integrate 3 other clients so that the truck is full and fuel optimization can be maximized?

With the existing data, we can create a dashboard that lists all goods and shipping details. It can be drilled down to various levels to gain deeper insights. Better data visualization can help you decide which would be the most optimal carrier to use – truck, train, ship or an aircraft and best route after calculating the fuel costs.

Conclusion

With enhanced Transportation Management System, small and medium sized enterprises can truly leverage the hidden power in their data and better arm themselves against business challenges.

Motifworks follows a proven process to help its clients positively impact their business processes, strategy, and bottom line by visualizing real-time data in an interactive way. Data visualization is great, but only when it becomes actionable insight does it make a difference. At Motifworks, we help you gain insight into what really matters for your business. Ask us how we’ve helped Logistics and Supply Chain organizations create efficiencies directly impacting their bottom line.