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Binney & Smith
Canada
Binney & Smith Canada manufactures
and markets successful brand-name products such as Crayola,
Liquitex fine art supplies, Walter Foster books, and
Revell Monogram model kits.
Binney &
Smith embarked on a project to harness the power of
its corporate data assets. They wanted to put simple
yet powerful tools into the hands of a variety of end
users, to enable them to view, analyze and manipulate
corporate data in a way that was meaningful to them.
At the same time, they hoped to reduce the considerable
cost of producing hundreds of standard reports and responding
to endless ad hoc requests.
After evaluating many proposals,
Binney & Smith brought Newcomp Solutions on board.
Newcomp recommended Cognos and Microsoft as the right
tool providers for an end-to-end data mart solution. "Both
companies offer best-of-breed products that stand out
from a price/performance perspective," says Michael
Roberts, a Newcomp systems engineer. "We're always
confident recommending this combination as a good IT investment."
A Microsoft SQL Server database, running on a Windows
NT Server, serves as the foundation for Binney & Smith's
data mart, storing data extracted from and AS/400-based
J.D. Edwards system. Users access the data mart through
Cognos PowerPlay and Impromptu, running on Microsoft Windows
desktops. "Microsoft
SQL Server easily handles the number of transactions
performed by Binney & Smith daily," Mr. Roberts
notes. "It's also very scalable, so they don't
have to worry about outgrowing it as demands on their
system increase."
Using PowerPlay's Transformer
module, Newcomp created multidimensional PowerCubes
that summarize the database's vast contents into smaller,
portable files for analysis. Microsoft's BackOffice
provides the built-in networking capabilities needed
to transfer data and cubes back and forth between the
company's various sites.
With PowerPlay, knowledge
workers can analyze information graphically or in crosstabs,
and slice and dice data in the way that best complements
their decision making process. Using Impromptu, they
can drill down to take a closer look at the transactional
data behind the summarized view presented by PowerPlay.
"Our model empowers the user and helps people help
themselves," notes Denis Trudell, a Binney &
Smith systems analyst.
"Our first objective
was to provide faster and better access to meaningful
information, and in a few short months we clearly accomplished
that goal," says Mr. Trudell. "This will help
us achieve our second goal, which is to enhance our competitive
advantage by responding more quickly to changes in the
marketplace. We have also improved the accuracy of our
corporate data, because everyone has access to the same
data in a timely way."
In addition, now that report creation has been placed
in users' hands, Binney & Smith's IT department is
free to focus on new technology initiatives. End users
get the information they need, when they need it and their
corporate data is being put to better use. "Our
knowledge workers can use the data to measure the company's
successes, build production plans, and create strategic
marketing plans," Mr. Trudell concludes. "The
combination of Microsoft SQL Server and Cognos tools
has allowed us to build a cost effective solution that's
easy to administer, manage and maintain. And in the
manufacturing and distribution marketplace, managing
costs is critical to building and maintaining success."
The Solution Provider:
NEWCOMP SOLUTIONS INC.
A Cognos Premier Services Partner, Newcomp Solutions
specializes in developing high-impact business intelligence
solutions and provides database design and consulting
services. Their "Quick Mart" approach helps
customers achieve a return on investment within 90 days.
About Cognos:
With over one million seats in thousands of companies
worldwide, Cognos is the leading vendor of Enterprise
Business Intelligence (EBI) solutions. By delivering
corporate data to everyone in the organization and giving
them powerful ways to analyze it, EBI from Cognos enables
companies to coordinate decision-making across the entire
enterprise, which in turn helps improve the performance
of the business. Cognos EBI products support over 100
relational and OLAP data sources, and seamlessly integrate
with many enterprise applications, including BaaN, JD
Edwards, Intentia, Oracle Financials, PeopleSoft, SAP
and SSA. Cognos products are available directly from
Cognos and through an extensive network of channel partners.
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