Vector Logistics Enhances Data Automation for Improved Efficiency

Vector Logistics is a Sales, Merchandising, and Supply Chain partner that adds value to businesses through a fully integrated, temperature-controlled network in Southern Africa. The company was spending a significant amount of time mapping efforts involved with multiple datasets within the customer analytics area. The users would manually extract files from SAP and consolidate it with files received in email attachments, using Excel and the Microsoft Power Query functions. This process was repeated approximately 4 days per month and upon ad-hoc requests, such as employee changes including new hires, resignations, and role changes.

Vector Logistics, a Sales, Merchandising, and Supply Chain partner in Southern Africa, was facing a significant challenge in managing multiple data sets within the customer analytics area. The company was spending a substantial amount of time manually extracting files from SAP and consolidating them with files received in email attachments using Microsoft Excel and the Power Query functions. This process was repeated approximately 4 days per month and upon ad-hoc requests, such as employee changes including new hires, resignations, and role changes. The challenge was to create an automated workflow that would significantly reduce manual efforts in extracting, mapping, and cleansing data that was previously done using Power Query. The company also needed to map unstructured IRI/Shoprite/PNP Portal data to SAP BW data, thereby reducing efforts involved with cleansing data previously completed using 'text to columns', 'vlookup' and other manual interventions.

The solution recommended to Vector Logistics was an Alteryx deployment, a leading platform for Analytic Process Automation (APA) that allows easy sharing of data, automation of tedious and complex processes, and turning data into results. The deployment comprised of 2 parts, with a 4 phase approach ranging from planning to executive feedback. The decision for this deployment stemmed from the business problem Vector needed to solve: Improve response time to updates call cycles using the Alteryx platform. The Alteryx platform is natively integrated with existing Ecosystems (PowerBI, SAP, etc.) and provides end-to-end analytics, data science, and process automation. This solution aimed to optimize the call cycle creation by combining a variety of sources and by using Alteryx’s predictive tools.

• The implementation of Alteryx deployment brought about several operational benefits for Vector Logistics. The non-invasive technology could be overlaid on existing systems and integrated with existing data, minimizing disruption to existing IT strategy and architecture. This improved risk management for the company. The solution also ensured accuracy, providing the right result, decision, or calculation the first time around. It brought about consistency by eliminating output variances through identical processes and tasks. The rapid deployment of tools and models enabled a more data-driven decision-making process. The solution also enhanced the company's data analysis skillset using advanced data preparation techniques, driving new insights. The transparent and easy-to-follow workflows created audit trails, enhancing transparency.

• Between $2,500 - $5,000 in potential savings can be realized through single use case implementation.
• Response time improved from 4 days to nearly 2-3 days which translates to a reduction in process times of between 25-50%.
• Savings realized through the implementation of 1 use case covers 25-50% of licensing costs.