Speeding Up Implementation and Rollout
The need for speed is paramount when businesses around the globe use your technology to automate critical operations like CNC-controlled machine tools and intelligent building control systems.
After acquiring Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP Finance & Operations, Beckhoff knew they needed a business intelligence solution that could evaluate data in a faster and more meaningful way. The need for speed centered on two key challenges: 1) implementing the requirements of individual business units, and 2) creating and distributing analyses and reports.
Along with speed, Beckhoff placed a high priority on planning and management, especially in terms of the effort required to set up the data loading processes, the data warehouse, and the analyses and reports.
Ditto for the transfer of legacy data from five clients from an ERP system they had used for more than two decades and the seamless integration into the new BI environment.
Key Factors of Success
Two key factors influenced the choice of system and service provider: TARGIT's diversified range of services and b-imtec’s high level of product and project expertise, as well as their in-depth D365 know-how. Beckhoff credited b-imtec’s profound product and ERP knowledge and close integration with TARGIT for a significant part of the project's success.
The TARGIT Business Intelligence Accelerator (BIA) provides customizable standard cubes for sales, finance, purchasing, and warehouse, which enabled:
- Valid gap-fit analysis and quick identification of areas to adapt to customer requirements
- Quick project start and rapid implementation
TARGIT also scored points for its intuitive front-end interface, efficient administration, and report distribution.
Project Highlights
Doing international business generates immense amounts of data from a wide range of time zones. The need to keep it up to date without losing timelines is among the special project highlights.
Beckhoff’s BI solution is based on TARGIT's InMemory technology, which allows users to very efficiently analyze the information generated in their daily business. It also eliminates the cost of database clients.
Now that the solution is in place, Beckhoff plans to integrate TARGIT analytics into D365 ERP and CRM interfaces through “embedded links” — available since TARGIT version 2019.
Beckhoff's power users designed the navigation in the form of guided analysis, which enables all users to navigate safely and quickly to the most relevant information.
For the timely evaluation of sales and earnings data, as well as “pending orders,” a portion of the database is updated with a latency time of 15 minutes. That makes key figures available for ad hoc evaluations on an up-to-date basis. Beckhoff management also receives an automated summary of the most important key figures every evening after the data updates.
So far, Beckhoff has rolled out the TARGIT BI solution to 11 countries and more than 300 users in Germany, Austria, and Italy, with plans for more locations in the near future.
The Reviews
Beckhoff Project Manager Reiner Mayer speaks glowingly of the TARGIT / b-imtec partnership. “With b-imtec, we have a reliable and competent partner, and with TARGIT, we have created a powerful and future-proof BI solution that will provide us with valuable information on the constantly growing requirements in the coming years,” he said.
b-imtec's Managing Director Thomas Veit echoed Mayer’s enthusiasm about the goal-oriented and cooperative collaboration. “With Beckhoff and their entire implementation team, we have proven that experience and diligence in planning and implementation pay off,” he said.
“The competent and rapid support provided by Beckhoff IT in setting up the Azure infrastructure enabled us to concentrate on implementing the BI processes and complete the planned project phases on time. We look forward to continuing our successful path with Beckhoff.”
