IBM > Case Studies > Driving growth supported by data-driven insight

Driving growth supported by data-driven insight

Customer Company Size

Large Corporate

Region

Europe

Country

Croatia

Product

IBM Cognos Business Intelligence
IBM Cognos TM1
IBM InfoSphere DataStage
IBM Cognos Controller

Tech Stack

Data Integration
Business Intelligence
Data Analytics

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Cost Savings
Productivity Improvements

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Big Data Analytics
Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration

Applicable Industries

Consumer Goods
Retail

Applicable Functions

Business Operation
Sales & Marketing

Use Cases

Inventory Management
Supply Chain Visibility

Services

Data Science Services
System Integration

About The Customer

Orbico Group, established in Croatia in 1987, is one of the leading distributors in Europe. Its three main divisions are beauty, fast-moving consumer goods and tourism, with partners including Mattel and Burberry. Orbico employs 3,100 people across 17 countries. The company is expanding rapidly, resulting in increased volumes of data relating to finance, sales, receivables and inventory across different countries. The main challenge they face is finding a way to provide the best service to their suppliers, customers, and financial institutions. To figure out how to be the best partner to everyone, they need to gain as much insight from their data as possible.

The Challenge

Orbico Group, a leading distributor in Europe, was facing challenges due to its rapid expansion across the continent. The company was struggling to manage the increasing volumes of data related to finance, sales, receivables, and inventory across different countries. The main challenge was to provide the best service to their suppliers, customers, and financial institutions by gaining as much insight from their data as possible. The rapid growth led to a situation where they were operating more than 20 companies in 15 different markets across Europe, making data management a struggle. To bring greater consistency and accuracy to group-wide reporting, Orbico realized that it needed to adopt a more robust approach.

The Solution

Orbico invited IBM to find a solution to help the expanding company effectively access and analyze wide-ranging data and produce insightful reports. As a first step, Orbico worked with IBM to deploy IBM InfoSphere DataStage, which integrates data across multiple systems, making it easy for teams at every level of the enterprise to access consistent, up-to-date information. The solution enables finance, sales, receivables and inventory data from individual companies to be standardized and stored in a single database in a unified way, where it can be accessed and analyzed by a larger number of end users. Orbico deployed IBM Cognos Business Intelligence to enhance its analytics capabilities, and IBM Cognos TM1 to transform its planning and forecasting cycle. The group also takes advantage of IBM Cognos Controller to support the end-to-end financial consolidation process.

Operational Impact

With IBM Analytics solutions, Orbico has successfully transformed its deluge of data into actionable insight—helping the group optimize operations to deliver the best quality service to partners and customers.
With a robust planning and financial reporting platform in place, Orbico can more easily accommodate the demands of an increasingly complex and constantly evolving business.
Today, executives can base decisions on hard facts, rather than instinct, unlocking new efficiencies and driving growth.

Quantitative Benefit

By consolidating data, Orbico has obtained a better rating from financial institutions, and has been able to take advantage of a lower cost of credit.