Enterprise Intelligence | Supplier Intelligence | Organizational Intelligence | Customer Intelligence | Intelligence Architecture Enhanced control over supply chain performance
Quality reports feed more efficient decision-making Industry Manufacturing Business Issue Availability and reliability of data, timely and accurate reporting Solution SAS BI Server, SAS Data Integration ® Server, SAS OLAP Server Benefits More efficient and reliable reports facilitate decision-making and improve cost-control
® ® Assembling a high-tech product such as an aircraft engine requires quality and precision at every stage. The daily challenge for engine component manufacturer Techspace Aero is to know exactly where things stand -- at any time. Since they began using SAS software to organize business data and present it in clear reports, both the management and the purchasing staff are informed more rapidly on key issues. As a result, decisions can now be made faster and are based on more reliable facts. Why has the volume of purchases from a key supplier suddenly decreased? Were all items for a specific engine component received in time to guarantee timely completion? Why has the cost of a certain item range increased compared with the previous month? These are just some of the vital questions SAS helps to answer more rapidly at Techspace Aero, a designer and producer of modules for civil and military aircraft engines. was not only labor-intensive. It also meant that updates were slow and costly." In addition, knowledge was not widespread enough across the company, since only a handful of staff members could access business data. What's more, there was no common definition of business terms or key performance indicators. "We were in dire need of improving our reporting system in order to facilitate decision-making and control costs better," explains Leruth. "We wanted our reports to be generated more efficiently, their content to be more reliable, and the layout standardized." Integrated data warehousing and reporting
Techspace Aero produced a specifications document that precisely described the various requirements. The target was to reduce manual operations as much as possible in order to minimize errors and increase productivity. Another key objective was to improve the accuracy and consistency of data throughout the company. The challenges were numerous. Information was coming from different sources and in different formats. In addition, it had to be presented to various types of users in a way that made it instantly understandable. Finally, all information needed to be traceable. Techspace Aero identified business intelligence as being the solution to their problems. "After careful market research, we eventually selected the SAS 9 technology," Leruth continues. "SAS was able to supply us an integrated platform capable of handling both data warehousing operations and reporting functions. Their solution also provided the necessary openness to smoothly interface with our other systems, particularly our BaaN ERP environment." Solid Partners, a SAS partner, was chosen as the system integrator. Partner of all leading engine manufacturers
Techspace Aero buys numerous parts from suppliers, produces components, assembles the modules, and sells them to leading engine manufacturers such as General Electric, Pratt & Whitney and Snecma. Timely and accurate reporting is essential to verify whether parts received match the orders and the production schedule, to ensure that budgets are kept under control, to meet clients orders and to rapidly make adjustments if necessary. However, both the production and purchasing departments were complaining about the availability of data. "Previously, data had to be manually extracted from our ERP system, then transferred into Excel and Access files," says Raphael Leruth, Project Manager of Information Systems at Techspace Aero. "This process "Both the quality of data and the exchange of business-critical information have greatly improved."
Raphael Leruth
Project Manager of Information Systems at Techspace Aero Designed for different types of users
The new reporting application addresses both the needs of occasional report consumers and of advanced analytical users. Buyers now monitor the evolution of monthly purchased volumes through standardized reports. They have a range of pre-defined reports at their disposal to follow up volumes received, orders sent out, and amounts and quantities involved. They can choose to view these data per buyer, per product item, or per product range. Using the same basic application, business analysts can access more interactive reports enabling them to carry out analyses in greater detail. They can, for instance, drill down into reports in order to find root causes for certain evolutions. Or they can use the application for customized or more advanced queries in order to answer precise questions coming from management. They can also produce a larger number of graphs, and even use the tool for order forecasting. Specific reports are also available to compare purchasing figures with targets in terms of volumes and costs. make more timely decisions, based on more accurate information. "We also have more time to research a specific trend if necessary." SAS brings added value both at the source and at the publication of information. The SAS application gathers raw data from the relevant databases, transforms it into consistent, usable sets of data, and stores these in an Oracle data warehouse. Whenever a report is requested, it also extracts the required information from the data warehouse and presents it in a userfriendly manner. Techspace Aero -- making engines roar
Techspace Aero designs, develops and produces modules and equipment for commercial and military aircraft engines. The company also specializes in the maintenance, repairs and testing of engines, as well as in the design and installation of engine test cells. Based near Liège, in Belgium, Techspace Aero employs 1,300 people, including 50 at its test cell engineering subsidiary, Cenco Inc., in Minneapolis, in the United States. Sales in 2005 reached 310 million euros, with 98% of production going to export. Techspace Aero is majority owned by SAFRAN, the newly formed group that resulted from the merger of SNECMA and SAGEM. Excellent support throughout
"SAS technology has proved to be both powerful and instrumental in helping us meet our objectives. The quality of the data it provides is essential", states Leruth. Another key factor for success was Solid Partners' expertise and mastery of the SAS applications. "Throughout the project, we had open discussions on issues and solutions, and were able to count on excellent reactivity from the support teams of both SAS and Solid Partners." Key users were able to continuously provide input on the functions that were being developed. This was an important aspect in the successful completion of the project, as was the excellent collaboration between all parties involved. "This project shows that it is possible for a medium-sized company in the manufacturing sector to successfully roll out a business intelligence tool, even without any internal knowledge of that area", concludes Leruth with satisfaction. Achieving consistency of data
"SAS provides us with reports of greater homogeneity," says Leruth. "All information used in the reports comes from the same location, and the terminology is consistent." In addition, the reports are now generated automatically, which means that critical information is now available much more rapidly. Consequently, management is able to SAS Institute Kasteel de Robiano Hertenbergstraat 6 3080 Tervuren Belgium Tel.: +32(2) 766 07 00 Fax: +32(2) 766 07 77 SAS Institute s.à.r.l. 204 route d'Arlon L-8010 Strassen Luxembourg Tel.: +352 26 11 84 Fax: +352 26 31 11 84 www.sas.com/belux www.sas.com/belux SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademark or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. ® Indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright © 2006, SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved. FEB2006