Business Intelligence Blog

Due to the current health crisis some wholesalers are experiencing intense demand for certain products such as hand sanitizer, disinfectants, medical supplies, and personal protective equipment. As such, these companies are struggling to meet ongoing demand because of supply chain disruption. Yet wholesalers in industries such as fashion and homewares have an oversupply of goods because customers have paused operations. Maintaining the supply-demand balance is challenging for all at the moment. By putting inventory management metrics to work will help you be more flexible and keep your team focused on customers and suppliers who continue to trade.

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Topics: Industry - Wholesale Distribution, Job Role - Inventory/Operations

Since the coronavirus outbreak in January 2020, Bunzl Safety has experienced unprecedented demand for its personal protective equipment (PPE) products. Having clear visibility into business performance has never been more important for the safety specialist. Bunzl uses business data analytics to get a 360-degree view of its operations so it can fulfil orders and look after its loyal customers.

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Topics: Case Study, Industry - Wholesale Distribution, data analytics

Being data driven means promoting fact-based decision making, driving user adoption of an analytics solution, and ensuring staff can gain insights from data. While this may look like a big managerial responsibility, it does not need to be a resource intensive task. During disruptions like Covid-19, data literacy pays off and enables confident whole-of-business responses, and helps people understand the big picture.

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Topics: Job Role - IT, decision-making, data analytics

Gold Medal International (Gold Medal) is a premier apparel supplier to leading department stores and sporting goods retailers across the U.S. As COVID-19 has taken center stage around the world, the team leading the third-generation family-owned business has relied heavily on its reputation with retail customers and the industry to instill confidence in the future. Data analytics has helped it understand its situation and move fast.

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Topics: Business Intelligence Basics, Industry - Wholesale Distribution, Job Role - Executive, Industry - Retail, decision-making, data analytics

Phocas has been named a top 20 most popular business intelligence software product by Capterra, a free online service that helps organizations find the right software. We scored a perfect 50/50 score from customers who took part in the review process.

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Topics: Business Intelligence Basics, Job Role - IT, Reviews and Recognition, Job Role - Executive, business intelligence software

The goal of business intelligence reporting is to transform data into accurate and actionable information for easy analysis and rapid decision-making. Through simple dashboards, all users are able to interpret a full view of business performance. This can be done quickly and efficiently which is important during a crisis.  Reports can be created on the spot and the information disseminated companywide.  In this post, we will take a closer look at why BI reporting comes without the complexity.

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Topics: Business Intelligence Basics, Job Role - Finance, Job Role - IT, Dynamic reporting

This Phocas blog highlights how one of our customers in wholesale distribution is coping with the new challenges of the COVID-19 crisis. The purpose is to outline specific issues, different strategies and to share knowledge. Team Medical Supplies is supporting its loyal customer base, who need its products more than ever to carry out essential health services during the crisis. Past purchasing data helps equitably distribute the highly sort after products and underpins the commitment to ethical decision making.

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Topics: Case Study, Business Intelligence Basics, Industry - Wholesale Distribution, decision-making, data analytics

The COVID-19 pandemic puts risk management and disruption strategies under the spotlight as companies experience limited supply and others are battling cashflow shortages. For businesses who move and sell products, inventory management can be a never-ending battle. During the shock of COVID-19, when supply and demand are volatile, managing stock presents further challenges. Strong visibility into your operations using data analytics principles can help manage inventory levels and keep cash flow steady.

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Topics: Business Intelligence Basics, Industry - Wholesale Distribution, Job Role - Executive, Industry - Retail, Job Role - Inventory/Operations, decision-making, data analytics

Business intelligence software is a competitive marketplace, and many cloud-based vendors sound the same. So how do you determine what’s the right fit for your company? At a macro level, it’s crucial the BI software supports your company strategy, is compatible with your industry and works with your tech stack.To help you navigate through the options, we outline 8 considerations in the buyers guide to the best business intelligence software.

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Topics: Business Intelligence Basics, Job Role - IT, Reviews and Recognition, Strategy, Management and Performance, Job Role - Executive, KPIs, business intelligence software

Over the last 15-years, we have undergone a major change in the way we do business. This is mostly due to technological advancement and the proliferation of SaaS. Companies must have the ability to store and analyze huge volumes of data. People cannot afford to wait for weekly or monthly reports to make critical company decisions. The ability to generate accurate, relevant and timely reports is critical if a company is to remain agile.  In this post, we will discuss a few ways BI reporting outplays traditional reporting practices.  

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Topics: Business Intelligence Basics, Job Role - Finance, Job Role - IT, Dynamic reporting