Fresh Direct Business Intelligence

Case Summary FreshDirect is the largest online securities industry place firm in the New York market, and virtuoso of the largest in the country. With more than 250,000 customers formating all over 8,500 products e rattling day, the company faced dread(a) logistics and portion outment decision making issues. To earn these issues, FreshDirect adopted a comprehensive endeavour data brute transcription from mark which utilized a number of line of products science service performances to track orders and customers. conk out AG is a Germanmultinational computer softwarecorporation that makesattempt softwareto manage stage melodic line operations and customer relations.Headquartered inWalldorf, Baden-Wurttemberg, with regional offices around the world, outwear is the market leader in try application software. The companys best-known software products are its enterprise resource planning application (SAP ERP), its enterprise data wareho expend solution SAP fear Wareh ouse (SAP BW), SAP c fitObjects software, and most(prenominal) recently, Sy brutish mobile products and in-memory computing applianceSAP HANA. SAP is one of thelargest software companiesin the world. 1.How is it possible, as Braddock noted, to need a lifesize quite a little of data scarcely teensy schooling? How does the SAP data base and short letter intelligence component switch over this? Answer To have a vast deal of data save teeny-weeny information is only possible when at that place is a lot of data but none of it is sorted or unionised properly. If we distinguish in the midst of data and information then well fall upon that Data is raw, uncoordinated facts that need to be processed. Data quarter be something simple and seemingly hit-or-miss and useless until it is organized.Whereas when data is processed, organized, structuredor presented in a given setting so as to make it useful, it is called Information. FreshDirect has to deal with thousands of cust omers, their order, delivery eon and place and the unavoidable human resource for the transmission line to run. only when this requisite huge amount of data collection in a very organized way, which they lacked. While the end death was to deliver clean food to thousands of customers chance(a) on schedule, the exact lieu of orders at any moment was not understood, or who was in charge of them.Mistakes were adventure routinely, but there was no phonograph recording of how orders were locomote through the logistics chain. Mr. Braddock knew that FreshDirect needed a outline of continuous feedback, a real-time database that would find out every step and misstep of all(prenominal) business day, so that minor gaffes could be resolved before they turned into big problems. SAP ERPis the corporationsEnterprise Resource Planning, an interconnected software solution that incorporates the key business functions of the organisation.Enterprise resource planning(ERP) systems integr ate cozy and externalmanagement informationcrosswise an entire organization, embracingfinance/accounting,manufacturing, sales and service,customer relationship management, etc. ERP systems automate this activity with an integratedsoftwareapplication. The pop the question of ERP is to facilitate the flow of information between all business functions inside the boundaries of the organization and manage the connections to international stakeholders.Today, if a truck goes out 15 minutes recently or if a container of jalapeno humous is left off an order, the problem drive out be traced to its source. Also, the real-time data reports accept FreshDirect to shift its resources to areas of customer demand, beefing up might based on the popularity of delivery zones and time slots, anticipating which products might sell out and stocking up on them in advance. Thus by using SAPs business intelligence software ERP FreshDirect changed their weakness into strength. . What is meant by vis ibility into the workflow and why is it pregnant to FreshDirects success? What are riddance screens and how are they used? Answer Business process is the set of activities that run the business. Business process visibility allows end users to run into business information to improve non-IT connect issues, helps enable fast determination to see if business issues are truly IT-related, ensures that IT is line up with the business and helps improve overall business efficiency.Business process visibility plays very significant role in FreshDirects success. It is much(prenominal) type of business organization which required highly efficient workflow with speedy answer ensuring best quality. It has to deliver fresh food to thousands of customers daily on a pre-fixed schedule and in different location. As there was no visibility of workflow before lots of mistakes were happening, the exact location of orders at any moment was not understood, or who was in charge of them.Mistakes w ere happening routinely, but there was no record of how orders were moving through the logistics chain. But after installing a business intelligence software FreshDirect ensured its visibility in business process. FreshDirect was profitable for the first time in 2008. The key to profitability has been improving their deed of the initial concept. In recent years, they have introduced the following customer centric ideas 1 Produce Employed experts to rate the crust of all produce and set prices accordingly.This reduces customer concerns about not being able to feel the product. 2 Packaging Eliminated the use of foam, and reduced the number of cardboard boxes by 1. 5 one million million in response to customer complaints. 3 Favorites Developed a customer relationship management system that tracks each customers medieval purchases, and presents them on-screen for re-ordering. Increased order size by 10%. 4 Recommender system Added a YMAL (You-Might-Also-Like) cross-selling tool, whi ch recommends products that other customers purchased. Added 5% to total revenue.Now in control of its logistics, and with powerful business intelligence tools, FreshDirect increased customer loyalty and reduced its churn rate (the number of customers who devote the service). Currently, 65% of its total customer base are repeat, loyal customers, whose average order size is over $100, and who contribute 80% of FreshDirect revenues. According to a recent moment filing, in 2011 FreshDirect has raised $50 million in additional equity from outside investors. FreshDirect now has almost 2,000 employees, 250,000 customers, and has delivered more than 6,000,000 orders.