Kamil Cupiał | 06 April 2022

How we helped Volvo Car Poland become a data-driven company.

Business analytics 2022 – Volvo Car Poland case

What do Google, Amazon, and Facebook have in common? Data. The power of each of these technological giants lies in the skillful use of data in business.

According to Forbes, in 2021, companies will spend USD 215 billion on data analytics. That’s 10% more than the year before. This number will grow because we produce billions of gigabytes of data every day. However, it is not the production of data that is currently the challenge, because we already have applications for almost everything. The challenge is effective data analysis. Those who efficiently analyze the ever-growing volumes of data will gain a competitive advantage.

Wondering how to make better use of data in your company? Read about Volvo Car Poland project and see how the best companies do it.

From this case study you will learn:

how we helped improve reporting at Volvo Car Poland,
how we successfully implemented Power BI system,
how BI tools helped to improve analysis, 
what processes based on data analysis look like,
how your company can become a data-driven company.

About TTMS Power BI project at Volvo Car Poland

Client: Volvo Car Poland
Objective: increase sales, improve customer service, marketing, and management processes thanks to the implementation of an extensive reporting layer
Cooperation period: since 2021
Number of people in the project: 3
Process: close collaboration with business and IT – needs analysis, solution proposals, and implementation of the selected option
Outcome: implementation of reports that improved sales, customer support, marketing, and servicing. Thanks to interactive analyses, it is possible to review historical data, examine trends, and compare periods (e.g., the same month in the previous year to the current year). It allows for making better decisions and adapting to the market more efficiently. Additionally, automatic data updates relieve users from tedious manual “refreshing” of reports in Excel, which saves time and resources.
Year of collaboration: 2021 – 2022

Unused data 

Nowadays, data is a tangible resource in companies, and its processing is becoming a key competence. Unfortunately, in many organizations, a large part of data is still unused or only partially used. 

How does this happen?

Our clients have told us about 4 myths concerning using data. Here is the BIB, or Business Intelligence Barriers:

Myth 1: BI – IT’S TOO EXPENSIVE!

“I can’t afford Business Intelligence. I am afraid of the high costs of implementing BI solutions.” 

Some managers still remember the days when launching even a simple analytical solution required budgets unattainable for small or medium-sized companies. 

What is it like in reality?

Currently, thanks to cloud solutions, the reporting platforms are available for everyone. The implementation costs do not strain the budgets of even the smallest companies. In the case of cloud services, you pay when you actually use them. Therefore, building a solution, we try to minimize the time of using particular services. It makes our solutions cheaper than those deployed “in your server room”.

Moreover, in order to launch the project and enjoy its benefits, you do not need to incur considerable expenses for upfront licenses. For example, the purchase of a similar database engine is associated with a significant outlay of resources (even several hundred thousand zlotys). In the case of a cloud service, the costs usually do not exceed several thousand per month.

Myth 2: I DON’T HAVE THE STAFF TO SUPPORT BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

“I don’t have an experienced IT team and won’t be able to work with it.”

What is it like in reality?

Self-service tools are becoming easier to use because they are created with a non-technical user in mind. The capabilities of these tools are incredible, and they are being constantly developed. For example, Power BI Desktop is enriched with additional features all the time and a new version is released each month.

However, it is important to implement BI in collaboration with a technology partner who has in-depth knowledge of a selected platform (confirmed by certificates) and experience in implementing business intelligence systems. It’s also a good idea to choose a partner that, in addition to implementing the solution, is prepared to provide a training course on the use and capabilities of the tool.

Myth 3: BUSINESS ANALYTICS – I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THAT

“The IT team is too busy. They won’t find time for a new solution.”

What is it like in reality?

Analysts do not have time because they need to perform many tasks manually and “stitch” several reports in Excel into one comprehensive report, which is time-consuming and frustrating. The concept of a data-driven company assumes high automation in this area, which gives analysts additional time for truly productive activities.

Myth 4: BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE SYSTEMS – I DON’T KNOW HOW TO CHOOSE ONE

“There are too many options to choose from, and I don’t have the knowledge to determine what solution will work best.”

What is it like in reality?

When choosing a business intelligence system, it’s advisable to research available tools. For example, according to Gartner, there are three vendors leading in the most important category: Qlik, Tableau, and Microsoft’s Power BI with its advantageous comprehensiveness of vision and capabilities.

These were also the doubts that Volvo Car Poland faced when they invited TTMS to their business intelligence project.

“The implementation of Power BI for Volvo Car Poland was a huge challenge,” says Jarek Szybiński – Microsoft Sales Director in TTMS. “It is great to work with companies that know the importance of data. Improving the business decision-making processes at Volvo Car Poland thanks to the implemented reports brought us a lot of satisfaction.

Project challenge

In many companies reporting depends on the experience of individual analysts. They are responsible for acquiring data from source systems, merging it, and preparing reports. 

The problem is that there are usually more reporting needs than analysts, and it is often manual work. It makes the data analysis process drag on. And that, in turn, delays data-driven decision making. 

Effective BI system means reliable data “just in time”

When Volvo Car Poland turned to us, they were well aware of the significance of data. They knew they could gain a real competitive advantage by using it for analysis and forecasting.

What did we do for Volvo Car Poland?

The project objective was to streamline company processes, put reports in order and increase competitive advantage in the market. We managed to achieve it by introducing 4 agile reports:

Customer Service Report

Challenge: the company was collecting data in many Excel files, and analyzing them was very time-consuming.

Solution: Automatic report

We implemented a report in Power BI based on data export.

The report refreshes automatically according to the schedule, without involving additional people. 

Thanks to the rich and interactive reporting layer, it is easy to assess how many cases come to the Customer Service department and how quickly they are closed. 

Something more: the possibility of moving from a report to action. You can send an email to a customer directly from the report.

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Watch a webinar about the report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nTAquFo574 

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TTM’s business intelligence solution means:

effective reporting system of the helpline service,  
monitoring of registered cases and replies,  
direct recommendation of actions and the possibility of sending emails from,   
current monitoring of the helpline load,  
faster customer service.

Business benefits from implementing the BI system:

For Volvo Car Poland, customer service is crucial. With Power BI, you can optimize your customer service department.

Now they know how many people will be needed to handle the helpline in specific periods. It is easy to check what customers are calling about and help them immediately. 

Sales report – support in decision-making

Challenge: it was very important for the company to track the implementation of sales plans. Unfortunately, reports from many locations were created in Excel. The manual refreshing and the analysis took a lot of time.

Solution – a report in Power BI using data warehouses. The report refreshes automatically according to the schedule, without involving additional people. 

By implementing a number of metrics, it is possible to compare different periods (month to month, any period of the year to the same period in the previous year). 

It gives a good idea of trends and allows for the analysis of sales effectiveness.

With TTMS’s business intelligence solution

you know how many invoices have been issued,
you know how many products have been released, 
you can check and compare data Y/Y, M/M, D/D.

Benefits of implementing business intelligence:

With Power BI, Volvo Car Poland can keep track of its sales plans in real time. They can easily check the target completion status and take appropriate actions. 

Marketing reports

Challenge: to integrate data from different sources (Google Analytics, Call Center, test drives records).

Solution – a cross-sectional report in Power BI that combines multiple data sources, trend monitoring, facilitated analysis of the marketing campaigns’ effectiveness or visits to the websites.

TTMS’s business intelligence solution

merging data and reports from Google Analytics with the client’s sales system

Benefits of implementing business intelligence:

Thanks to Power BI, Volvo Car Poland knows how many customers in the sales funnel turn into the so-called warm leads and which promotion channel is the most effective.

Summary

General benefits of implementing business intelligence:

Implementation of the BI System software at Volvo Car Poland helped improve decision-making processes. Thanks to the unified platform, everyone can see the same data and work efficiently in one program, without sending e-mails and manually processing reports. Thanks to the security layer in shared reports, the number of reports is reduced as each employee sees only the relevant data set. Viewed by the board, the report will contain all the data. Viewed by a Regional Director, it will display only the data from that specific region. It eliminates the need to create such condensed reports specifically for different groups.

At TTMS, we know that unused data is just a cost. In Volvo Car Poland we’ve managed to improve data processing and facilitated making data-informed decisions. Functions such as ‘one-click’ forecasting, automated correlation search, or anomaly detection help analyze data and achieve the assumed business goals with ease.

Efficient analysis of data from various sources (files, websites, social media, internal databases, etc.) is currently the foundation of competitive advantage. It is indispensable in a fast-changing world, where even one post may determine the success or failure of a product. – Power BI Project Leader Norbert Kulski BI Lead – Transition Technologies MS

Are you considering such a solution in your company? Write to us!

We will help you go through the process step by step and choose the best solution for you. Contact

TTMS – why is it worth working with us? 

Four reasons why you should choose TTMS if you are thinking about power BI service: 

We have been a Microsoft partner for years and have a wealth of experience implementing BI in companies.
In the seven years of TTMS’s existence, we have implemented more than 500 projects worldwide. We are trusted by the world’s largest corporations from such sectors as pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, education, and defense. 
We can help you migrate data securely from other systems. 
We will train your team and introduce you to Power BI.