DT Group is the largest retailer and distributor of building materials for both DIY and professionals in the rapidly growing Nordic market. As part of a strategic drive to increase efficiency throughout the corporation, purchasing managers of operating units in four countries identified the potential for significant cost reductions through establishing a joint purchasing department to negotiate centrally with suppliers.
Called Group Sourcing, this new department faced the challenge of different ERP systems in the Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, and Finnish parts of the company. Navigating across these disparate systems - and across the vast pool of numbers that comes with a product range of more than 700,000 items - proved to be a daunting task. A shared business intelligence solution for the entire group’s analysis and reporting needs was the obvious answer.
Better information means better negotiating
TARGIT Business Intelligence Suite enabled users throughout the international group to analyze key data by product group, supplier, customer, store, division, and individual country. According to DT Group’s IT Development Executive, Robert Kjeldmand, the advantages of implementing TARGIT became clear from the start. “Key figures such as turnover and contribution margins are no longer up for discussion, because now we have a shared definition of what the key figure entails. Thus, the data warehouse solution not only ensures that we speak the same language concerning financial figures, but it also ensures that we all have access to the same and, not least, the newest figures. This makes it easier for us to make decisions and to share experiences, which in the end makes us a stronger company.”
12 months from tender to full implementation
Rapid implementation across the organization built on careful preparation by DT Group as well as TARGIT’s extensive experience in solving international business intelligence challenges. A cornerstone of this approach is presenting solutions to end users and not just management. According to IT Development Executive, Robert Kjeldmand, this broad attention to multiple stakeholders pays quick dividends. “We wanted user-friendliness, speed, and functionality,” Kjeldman says. “The conclusion is, unconditionally, that we have chosen the right solution.”
