Defining a Single Source of Data Truth
Vikan's products set the standard for sanitation operations in the food and beverage industry and other hygiene-sensitive environments. With global sales and a comprehensive in-house lifecycle for each product, the teams need a reliable way to stay in touch and align behind performance benchmarks in sales, production, finance, quality, and more. Vikan's internal operations are complex and continually evolving as they expand to new markets and ideate on new product lines.
CFO Svend Erik Svendsen explains, "We want to be very data-oriented. Our teams need to stay informed on daily order inflow, sales, delivery rates, stock availability, and so on." With so much on the line, Vikan needed a reliable business intelligence tool that could unify and simplify their interconnected data systems and disparate sources of information.
For decades, Vikan has used TARGIT to manage their data collection and reporting needs. Unlike its competitors, TARGIT's platform provides a straightforward, easy-to-use interface that enables anyone to access insightful, powerful reports.
"TARGIT is a very intuitive tool to work with as a user. Once you have access to the system, you can drill down into various analyses very easily," says Svendsen.
This user-focused business model helps TARGIT stand out in a crowded BI market and ultimately deliver better results for their clients. While technologists and developers can configure a range of features within the system, they aren't the only employees in an organization who can work in TARGIT. Employees in various positions can access real-time data and turn it into clear, actionable reports in a matter of minutes. Plus, TARGIT integrates seamlessly into other IT systems, so users can share reports across their organization, even if their colleagues don’t access the system itself.
TARGIT's dynamic approach to BI helped Vikan adopt a company-wide reporting process without the heavy lift of intensive training sessions or tricky software workarounds. Now, TARGIT has become a central part of their company culture and internal processes. Svendsen describes TARGIT as an extension of Vikan, not an outside vendor: "Because we have worked with TARGIT for so many years, it's truly a language that we understand in Vikan. We don't see any alternatives to TARGIT because we understand the system already. It's a part of the organization – it's very integrated."
Optimizing Cross-Team Visibility
Vikan uses TARGIT to distribute highly accurate reports at every level; starting with routine reports that go directly to the top executives, like Svendsen and Vikan's CEO. Next, at least ten automated reports go out to top management and the broader management group every day. Then, even further down the pipeline, data operations teams dig into the nitty-gritty details stored in TARGIT. They analyze operational data through a configurable dashboard and visualization tool, then use these metrics to shape process improvements moving forward.
TARGIT enables every employee at Vikan to align behind one view of their organizational data, rather than working in silos or leaving their colleagues in the dark. With over 50 daily users in TARGIT, the system ensures that each department is working towards common goals.
Turning Powerful Data into Powerful Results
Cross-team visibility and alignment are also crucial in Vikan's international distributor partnerships. They work with a variety of local distributors in various countries. Each one may use a different technology to track sales, contacts, and orders, but Vikan needs to know how much each distributor sells through each production facility.
In the past, convincing distributors to share sales data was a daunting task. Distributor teams didn't have the resources to manually transfer the data between a distributor-held system and Vikan's internal system. Plus, it was hard to demonstrate the long-term value of this cross-functional visibility, making partners reluctant to get on board.
In collaboration with TARGIT partner Accobat, a BI consulting firm, Vikan recently developed and implemented the Vikan Sales Explorer. The Sales Explorer leverages TARGIT's robust reporting features to combine external market data, internal sales data, and distributor sales data. It turns these insights into a dynamic map that illustrates regional sales trends and performance, with the ability to filter by product line, buyer industry, distributor, etc.:
Svendsen explains how Vikan uses this innovative feature to inform future expansion and growth initiatives: "when we dive into the various analyses, we can answer questions like: What is the potential in this area? How much are we selling? How much are distributors selling? and so on." Currently, Vikan leverages data from at least 15 global distributors to implement the mapping features in Denmark, Germany, and the U.S., with plans to expand to France in the near future.
While TARGIT has been an integral part of Vikan's processes for decades, Accobat is a more recent addition. "We've been working with Accobat for about four years. Vikan is a no-nonsense company that likes to make agreements and stick to them. We didn't want to work with some enterprise consulting company who just wanted to sell us as many solutions as they could before the contract came to a close." says Svendsen. Accobat has a very pragmatic approach to consulting, with dedicated support teams and transparent communication. The consulting firm looks for ways to develop a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship with the team at Vikan because they genuinely consult rather than selling.
For Svendsen and his team, the Sales Explorer and other ongoing initiatives are rooted in TARGIT's accessible reporting capabilities and Accobat's dynamic partnership with both brands. Together, these high-value data and analytics tools help Vikan make informed business decisions and deliver higher value to customers and partners across the board.
