Eurac achieves real-time benefits with Logi Analytics

Eurac is a leading international brake disc manufacturer, and has specialised in the casting, machining and distribution of brake discs to the automotive industry for over 50 years.  With foundries in the UK and Czech Republic that produce over 100,000 tonnes of grey iron castings each year, Eurac also has machining facilities in the UK, Czech Republic and Germany and its products are supplied to vehicle manufacturers, the motor racing industry and high-end replacement part distributors.

The challenge

In early 2011, Eurac implemented a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system at two of its UK sites but found the reporting function within the system was hard to adapt to meet the needs of the business.  Eurac set about researching and reviewing the range of business intelligence (BI) products on the market.  James Perrott, Group IT Manager, Eurac, said: "Logi Analytics came up on a number of the web searches we carried out, so we downloaded the free trial product and installed it on a temporary server.  At the time, we had an intern working in the IT department, who used Logi Info to create a dashboard with live data during the trial period, and we were really impressed.  If an intern with no real experience in business, albeit with decent programming skills, could create a dashboard which was far beyond anything we had been able to create in our ERP system, then that was a great recommendation.  So we got in touch with Logi Analytics to find out more."

The key deciders for the team at Eurac were speed, the rendering of reports and presentation – and Logi Info more than satisfied on all three counts.  James Perrott said: "We already knew what data we needed to report on and that we wanted to make it available to the executive managers, and we wanted to make elements of this information far more accessible right across the company.  When we saw how reports and dashboards could be deployed across a combination of PCs, tablets and mobile devices using Logi Info, the board members were really excited.  It was just what we wanted to do and it was a deciding factor for us.  Once we had seen Logi Info in action, we decided to work with Logi Analytics."

The results

With Logi Info in place, and an upgrade to the ERP system complete, the IT team at Eurac set about building the dashboard.  To create a range of home pages, managers throughout the business were asked to submit the key performance indicators (KPIs) that they needed to monitor, manage and report on for their department.  Using Logi Info, these KPIs were then built into a personalised home page, so that each time a manager logged into the system they had the relevant information immediately available.  James Perrott said: "This was a huge step forwards for us.  Previously, running reports was very time consuming so managers would only load them on a weekly basis.  Now they have access to figures that are updated in real-time and this has made a huge change to the mindset here.  We don't have to wait till the end of the month to react to a situation, we can actively manage it as it occurs and that is very beneficial for us."

There had been a history of managers using their 'own' data to compile reports and with Logi Info and the ERP system upgrade both implemented, Eurac took the opportunity to centralise all its data.  This meant that everyone had access to the information they needed, and the number of standalone spreadsheets in use was dramatically reduced.  "Not only are we all working from the same set of figures now, but we can interface data from different departments.  We can review production figures alongside returns for example, to see if there was a particular problem at a specific time, and we can look at purchasing with maintenance to see if purchasing spares is impacting on the shut down for maintenance. Having this type of information has made a huge difference, it has revolutionised how the business works," said James Perrott.

With Logi Analytics, Eurac has not only been able to delight users on the factory floor with faster reporting performance and enhanced visualisation but also users who are off-site now have access to Logi reports through their mobile phone or tablet.  James Perrott explained:  "The information renders so well on mobile devices that people are using Logi to log in to the main website.  We are now developing a reporting mobile website to make daily information and KPIs available to all who need to keep in touch, wherever they are.  It's very simple to do – but it's something we wouldn't have dreamt of doing without Logi Analytics."

James Perrott concluded: "Logi Analytics has exceeded all expectations for us and has become an integral part of the company road map.  Not just when we look at where we want to be in six months or so, but looking ahead to where the company will be in three or four years' time, Logi is a really important element of this development. It can often be hard to quantify the value of a software purchase, but not this time.  We saw a return on investment of more than 50 percent immediately due to the reduction in the number of ERP licences we needed.  But more than that, when I look back and think where we were before Logi Analytics, and where we are heading now, I know we made the right decision."