Data-driven Innovation at the Grupo Pellas SER Company

Data-driven Innovation at the Grupo Pellas SER Company

Reasons for BI System Implementation at SER

From the case study, SER decided to implement the BI system for several reasons. Primarily, the company sought to enhance its business operations by leveraging its existing systems with the new technology. Throughout its existence, SER had accumulated over 120 years of disorganized and unsystematic information that it could use to improve its decision-making processes (Zamora & Barahona, 2016). Historical data is essential in determining such elements as the cost trends of production, resource needs, and demand patterns for its various offerings. Notably, the emergence of big data and modern analytical capabilities enables organizations to draw statistics from such areas as transactions, communication, and other elements in the whole supply chain (Jeble, Kumari, & Patil, 2018). In this regard, decisions can be based on evidence from such past elements, which in many cases tend to be repetitive or highly identical.

Additionally, SER implemented the BI system to keep track of its production processes by evaluating key deliverables, relevant influencing factors, and gain the potential to project future output levels and proceeds. Business intelligence models provide organizations with real-time data that managers can employ to monitor their activities, thus, enabling them to make necessary adjustments to meet established goals (Zamora & Barahona, 2016). Such features as production volume can be tracked against the set limits, costs evaluated based on the set budget, and the use of resources measured compared to the original schedules. Moreover, such actual and immediate information could allow SER to identify the various elements affecting production, therefore, assisting the managers in establishing optimal conditions for superior performance.

Markedly, SER was challenged by the effect of international prices on its “commodity” portfolio. Hence, the 2008 world crisis had substantial ripple effects on the cost and profitability levels of the firm (Zamora & Barahona, 2016). Consequently, the management was eager to create new capacities for production efficiency through either cost reduction or increased output. The ability of business intelligence systems and the BI model to provide real-time information on all cost centers was, thus, a primary reason for its implementation by SER.

Considerations in Implementing Business Intelligence

A primary success factor for business intelligence is the integration of information systems. Such models rely on existing data sources to extract, evaluate, and prepare relevant reports. In this regard, a firm should ensure that all its databases from its various systems as the asset management system and enterprise resource planning are linked for effective consolidation of data, which can then be compared to generate useful statics. Failure to interconnect such frameworks can lead to ineffective business intelligence applications.

Notably, different systems employ varying styles of code, terminologies, names, and data formats, which must be standardized to promote the centralized application of business intelligence. BI models extract and compare data from all the available information systems, and its ability to provide accurate or relevant information is determined by the synchronization and calibration of their operational details. In this regard, defining codes and data characteristics must be matched to enhance the functioning of BI. Such adjustment is evident in SER’s case.

Organizations should establish resource capacity before implementing BI. Such elements as human capital, equipped with the necessary skills, should be confirmed before adopting BI. Importantly, managers should decide between in-house development and external acquisition prior to implementing BI. Moreover, the know-how of internal staff, as well as the resources required to train them, should be determined to in advance to avoid failure in the future  (Saavedra & Bach, 2017). Other relevant considerations include a determination of the system’s licensing needs and their cost implication, factors that affect BI’s usefulness to the firm. Generally, the adoption of BI should be guided by the ability of an enterprise to meet the accompanying demands as well as provide a conducive environment for its operation.