SQL Server PowerPivot for Excel 2010 tool using Office365 Team Site in the Cloud (Microsoft Azure)

Transcription

1 SQL Server PowerPivot for Excel 2010 tool using Office365 Team Site in the Cloud (Microsoft Azure) (21 December 2011) RWF Consulting LLC embarked in 2001 on a project to address major financial issues impacting manufacturing industries. The issue is improper use of multiple allocations/statistics in determining product costs for inventory and end product estimating and pricing. RWF Consulting LLC decided to use an out-of-the-box approach to address the above issue. The principal of RWF Consulting LLC has 33 year experience in Fortune 500 companies first as an engineer and then as principal estimator/financial systems manager within its finance organizations. It became obvious that there were two major inventory and product pricing issues: 1) Allocations during costing process and cost collection process. 2) Disconnect between the costing process and the financial records. Page 1 of 5 All Rights Reserved

2 The RWF Consulting LLC principal recently spent five years in Mainland China introducing and training the large scale government owned Chinese industries there on an alternative product costing methodology (parametric estimating a statistical approach to product estimating). The Chinese customers immediately requested that their estimates reflect their own unique cost collection approach, meaning that they wanted their estimated costs to be in the same understandable and measurable categories as collected costs. I developed an automated activity categorizing tool for them that I have incorporated into my integrated tool described below. This requested approach is similar to activity based costing but activity based costing is too labor intensive and subject to latency in the factors not being kept current. RWF Consulting LLC then researched the current methodology in the USA for small and medium sized manufacturing businesses for inventory and product pricing and found that industries simple used overhead factors (often outdated) in their methodology based upon direct labor (with direct labor rapidly disappearing due to automation and out-sourcing) and there was a disconnect between the estimates and financial cost systems. RWF Consulting LLC then decided to develop a new approach utilizing the then appearing cloud based tools but found that approach too difficult to independently develop. It was not until 2010/2011 that two new Microsoft tools became available that offered an easily implemented solution: 1) Microsoft Office365 is a cloud based tool containing a team site for collaboration between the tool developers and tool users. 2) Microsoft PowerPivot for Excel 2010 as a sophisticated tool for connecting financial information with a detailed estimating approach. Page 2 of 5 All Rights Reserved

3 The approach is diagramed as follows: 1) IE Standards and Routing imported as worksheet in Excel 2010 Workbook 2) Database connected to Excel 2010 Workbook via PowerPivot Window (SQL Server, Access, Analysis Services, other PowerPivot data, from Reports or Azure DataMarket. 3) Cloud Integration System = PowerPivot for Excel 2010 within Microsoft Office 365 collaboration environment. 4) Costed Product is developed within PowerPivot for Excel 2010 within Microsoft Office 365 collaboration environment. PowerPivot for Excel 2010 also provided within a PowerPivot Window for analysis of the combined data. IE Standards Routing Costed Product Database Cloud Integration System Page 3 of 5 All Rights Reserved

4 RWF Consulting LLC currently has a completely populated sample Proof of Concept (non-functioning tool) that potential users can review. In order to access the functioning Proof of Concept tool, RWF Consulting requires a non-disclosure agreement to be signed by potential users. The non-functioning tool and the functioning tool can be accessed in the Cloud Microsoft Office365 Team Site after proper access is established. The functioning tool can be accessed and manipulated after additional levels of security are obtained from RWF Consulting LLC. RWF Consulting LLC is a Microsoft partner: Application is used online in Cloud using Office365 & PowerPivot for Excel 2010 Page 4 of 5 All Rights Reserved

5 Contact Information: Ralph W. Farrington (RWF) Consulting LLC P.O. Box 2924, Newport Beach, CA Irvine Office/cell telephone: Page 5 of 5 All Rights Reserved