Transforming Daily Sales Reports with SAP Analytics Cloud

About the Customer

Princes Group is a distinguished international food and drink enterprise, engaged in the manufacture, import, and distribution of a wide range of branded and private-label products. Their extensive customer base includes major supermarkets, convenience stores, foodservice operators, wholesale suppliers, and other food manufacturers. Princes’ diverse portfolio covers over 20 categories, such as fish, meat, fruit, vegetables, soups, pastes, pasta, cooking sauces, edible oils, and various soft drinks sectors.

The Challenges

Princes Group previously relied on SAP BW to generate their Daily Sales report, which was distributed as a static PDF via email each morning. This format lacked the interactivity, depth, and visual appeal expected by modern knowledge workers. Feedback from users indicated a strong need for a more dynamic and interactive Sales dashboard.

The Solution

After conducting a series of user experience workshops and closely observing the processes and user interactions, the Bluestonex design team began developing low-fidelity dashboard prototypes. As an SAP Partner and User Experience (UX) specialist, Bluestonex assessed options from both tactical and strategic viewpoints. It was concluded that SAP Analytics Cloud was the most suitable tool for creating a Sales dashboard for the initial proof of concept. Key stakeholders were engaged to ensure the data was used effectively and presented in an optimal manner on the dashboard. Pilot users reported that the dashboards created using SAP Analytics Cloud were highly responsive and easily accessible on any device.

The Architecture

In this scenario, SAP BW generates data in MS Excel format, which is stored on a file server within Princes’ network. SAP Analytics Cloud accesses this file through a connection facilitated by the SAP Analytics Cloud Agent and SAP Business Technology Platform Cloud Connector.

The Results

The introduction of SAP Analytics Cloud provided several benefits to stakeholders, including:

• A visual representation of the Daily Sales Report
• Improved insights into sales data
• Enhanced interactivity with the data
• Increased efficiency and productivity by removing the need to interpret static tabular reports
• Drill down capabilities to examine material and customer groups
• Insights into the Top/Bottom 5 material and customer groups

With SAP Analytics Cloud, Princes Group successfully enhanced their analytics capabilities, moving to a more engaging and insightful reporting experience.