Expanding the use of Power BI in data-driven decision-making

For FrieslandCampina, data is the key to success in the decision-making process. At corporate level, the decision was made to use Power BI as the tool for this. “Having a single, shared tool ensures that we can learn from one another and make faster progress in the field of business intelligence,” says Pieter De Brouwers, Finance Director for Belgium & France. “This enables the business to make better and faster decisions based on the data and the associated visualisations. We were already using Power BI at a local level. However, to better support the business – and as part of a local priority to position the finance department as a business partner – it was necessary to further expand our use of Power BI. This would enable us to provide better insights and analyses to our commercial stakeholders.”

Fine-tuning and user-friendliness

Market turbulence, macroeconomic trends and inflation did, however, have an unforeseen impact on the business and its operating results. Internally, this led to specific decisions being made regarding the allocation of time and resources. “Furthermore, finding the right qualified people remains an ongoing challenge,” says De Brouwers. “To drive further development at a local level, we therefore called on Hyphen consultant Emmely Gheysen. She possesses the knowledge and experience of Power BI to view this process from her own perspective. A real win-win for our finance team, then.” “Locally, I already had a robust Power BI tool at my disposal when the project began,” explains Emmely Gheysen. “Over the past period, I have mainly focused on further fine-tuning the tool. New measures were created based on current needs, and data files were updated.

In addition, the tool was further optimised. As mentioned, it is essential for FrieslandCampina to have a common tool for all departments. That is why I also focused on making Power BI more user-friendly to support all our stakeholders. We also organised training sessions to familiarise our stakeholders with the use of Power BI and to explain the added value of the tool. This fosters interaction between the business and the finance department, enabling the latter to fulfil its role as a business partner.”

In principle, the entire P&L is visible in Power BI, but in the past this caused a fair bit of complexity. Due to the sheer volume of data, the business often couldn’t see the wood for the trees. “The data itself has never been the problem,” says De Brouwers. “Power BI is a user-friendly tool for making the most of the data, and as such it really does add value. This enables finance to better support business decisions, eliminate decisions based purely on ‘gut feeling’ and thus be a better business partner.”

Insights into profitability

So what specific insights does the business have? “During a training session, for example, it was made clear who the top 10 most profitable customers are and how to monitor them,” says Gheysen. “It’s important for people in the field to have an idea of who the most profitable customers are. If you can demonstrate this, it’s also easy to get them on board with the Power BI story.” In addition, certain insights have come to the fore that have provided a real ‘aha’ moment. “Generally speaking, for example, we can say that there is greater and faster insight into profitability per SKU, ” explains De Brouwers. “Immediately after the month-end closing, we have these insights into profitability at our disposal, enabling us to discuss SKUs that are loss-making or do not contribute to profit.”

FrieslandCampina’s Power BI journey is still evolving. “It is certainly not a static process, ” says Gheysen. “Just because a particular report looks a certain way today doesn’t mean it will remain that way in two to three months’ time. The business is constantly asking us to provide insights into certain (new) areas. If we see the value in this, we can create new reports or adapt existing ones to meet the business’s needs.” De Brouwers agrees. “Power BI is a living organism because people and environments are constantly changing. Depending on what we want to gain insight into, the tool will also take further steps. After all, Power BI must remain ‘smart’. We have a number of standard visualisations that Emmely is currently optimising further. However, it is essential that the tool is the result of ongoing cross-fertilisation and dialogue between all stakeholders. That said, the finance team must remain critical in order to fine-tune the tool as effectively as possible.”

Data quality

It all starts with data quality. “Garbage in, garbage out,” says De Brouwers. “If the data is incorrect, you’ll produce flawed analyses and your business partners will draw the wrong conclusions. We know that not all data is 100 per cent accurate. All the more reason to remain vigilant. Our task is to build on our foundation and optimise data quality as much as possible. The more we analyse, the more we compare, and the more we develop our analytical skills.”