Daikin: Gaining Global Sales, Inventory, and Margin Visibility with Data Visualization Software from SAP

Transcription

1 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. Picture Credit Daikin Industries Ltd., Osaka, Japan. Used with permission. Daikin: Gaining Global Sales, Inventory, and Margin Visibility with Data Visualization Software from SAP Best known for air conditioners, Daikin Industries Ltd. is expanding the reach of its chemicals division. But inefficient global reporting hampered timely executive decisions. With SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence and SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards software, the division launched a data visualization system to better align supply with real-time market demand.

2 Company Daikin Industries Ltd. Headquarters Osaka, Japan Industry Industrial machinery and components Products and Services Air conditioners, container refrigeration units, fluorochemicals, and oil hydraulics systems Employees 51,398 Revenue 1.29 trillion (US$12.6 billion) Web Site Business Transformation The company s top objectives Provide total visibility over global operations Increase sales and profits and speed decisions with faster reporting and analysis Simplify data gathering and increase the precision and scope of analytics The resolution Deployed SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence and SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards software Consolidated domestic and overseas production and sales metrics Implemented information analysis infrastructure and a management cockpit Personalized dashboards on mobile devices for anytime, anywhere reporting The key benefits Visualization of sales, inventory, and gross-margin data Faster decisions based on daily consolidated gross-margin reports Highly profitable strategic framework for production and sales processes Read more With full visibility through real-time sales, profit, and inventory data at each site, we can be more sensitive to supply and demand, focusing sales on the most profitable areas and customers. Hideo Kaneko, Deputy General Manager of the Chemicals Division, Daikin Industries Ltd. Top Benefits Achieved 66.6% Faster information aggregation (from 600 hours to 200 hours per month) 80% Faster calculation of the gross margin (reduced from 5 days to 1 day) 3x More time available for strategic activities See more metrics 2 / 6

3 Daily global reporting for informed production and sales A pioneer in Japan, the chemicals division of Daikin Industries Ltd. commercialized fluorine chemistry in 1933 and has since developed more than 1,800 types of fluorine compounds. Following Fusion 15, the company s strategic management plan for 2015, the division has tried to create a more sophisticated management infrastructure to become a top competitor in the global chemicals industry. This includes expanding sales to China and other emerging countries and developing new applications in the field of environmental technology. To achieve this goal, it was crucial for Daikin s chemicals division to accelerate decision making. Overseas accounts make up 60% of our business, says Hideo Kaneko, the division s deputy general manager. To win the global struggle for survival, it was crucial to be able to quickly check sales, inventory, and gross-margin data from the United States, Europe, and Asia and establish production and sales strategies to maximize profits. Despite the importance of this global data, it was only being aggregated twice a month using spreadsheets and was first shared with management at semimonthly sales meetings, making timely decisions regarding market changes impossible. It also took a lot of time and effort to consolidate gross-margin data, posing potential problems for production planning based on demand forecasts. To solve the issue, the chemicals division at Daikin decided to build a visualization system to centrally manage company-wide sales and inventory data. Our goal was to enable detailed reporting and analysis by business, product, and region on a daily basis to accelerate management sales decisions and increase profits all over the world. Hideo Kaneko, Deputy General Manager of the Chemicals Division, Daikin Industries Ltd. 3 / 6

4 Mobile access to reporting dashboards for faster decisions For its global data visualization project, the chemicals division at Daikin deployed SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence and SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards software at 6 Japanese offices and then at another 14 offices overseas. It was essential that the software be accessible online and via mobile device so managers could gather the data they needed from anywhere at any time. It was also important that data could be pulled from the SAP ERP application and other non-sap applications at the various global offices. At the initial phase, we settled for about 70% analysis precision in order to prioritize a quick start, says Masuo Nagata, the manager of computer systems and support for the planning department within the chemicals division. Once the software was live, top managers were given tablets to access information anytime, anywhere. Our division took a lead in adopting mobile sales support tools, and it was natural for us to use a tablet, says Kaneko. Top managers are too busy to sit down and open a laptop. A tablet is the best tool for viewing information quickly to make fast decisions. After the implementation, the support team continued to improve and personalize dashboard reports according to user usage levels. Different users want different information and varying degrees of granularity, says Nagata. So for executive managers, we prepared the display to visually check market trends right when the tablet boots up and adjusted the display to track numerical data. Plus, managers and staff can drill down to the raw data level. 4 / 6

5 Company-wide information sharing increases engagement The new data visualization system allows sales, inventory, and gross margin data to be checked in real time. Production systems can now be adjusted to meet regional demand, and management is able to focus on areas where sales are stagnant. With the ability to align supply and demand and preferentially supply products to highly profitable locations based on gross-margin and inventory data, sales have increased by several billion yen. Meanwhile, general data aggregation and analysis is significantly faster. Now sales managers and planners can spend triple the time focusing on strategy, says Kenji Aoki, section manager of sales planning for Daikin s chemicals division. The largest benefit is that everyone from executives to field staff can share information, both good and bad, says Kaneko. Now that analysis results for the whole division can be immediately conveyed to the field, employees are more aware of the challenges we face and can accelerate activities accordingly. Key benefits 66.6% Faster information aggregation (from 600 hours to 200 hours per month) 80% Faster calculation of the gross margin (reduced from 5 days to 1 day) 3x More time available for strategic activities 5 / 6

6 Daikin Industries Promoting visualized procurement and cost information for true global operation Daikin Industries will expand use of data visualization to drive fast and informed decisions. We will precisely pinpoint global market trends to ensure accurate inventory, says Aoki. By sharing sales and inventory data on the global level, we can improve the precision with which production can meet demand. CMP30602 (14/04) The next step will be to incorporate procurement and cost information into the data visualization system and the global operational framework. There are many difficult points regarding procurement and demand forecasting, says Nagata. We are now moving toward reporting and analysis based on a variety of factors. Daikin Industries is also looking to evolve demand forecasting based on customer relationship data. It also plans to expand the system to the main air conditioner business unit. Without a doubt, SAP solutions will continue to play an important role in realizing the Daikin Industries growth strategy set out in the Fusion 15 midterm management plan for the coming year. 6 / 6 Picture Credit Daikin Industries Ltd., Osaka, Japan. Used with permission.

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