Telefónica moves company-wide reporting to the cloud
Dr. Jens Johannesson
Head of Data Intelligence, Telefónica Germany
ORAYLIS has been successfully supporting us for many years in everything related to information processing for reporting and dashboarding. I value not only their deep methodological expertise — our partner is also always able to flexibly adapt to our individual needs. That’s why we are also relying on ORAYLIS for the transformation of our company-wide data warehouse into the cloud.
At a glance
Customer: Telefónica Germany
Industry: Telecommunications
Project goal: Cloud migration of the company-wide data warehouse during ongoing daily operations
Technologies: Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure Databricks, Power BI
With nearly 50 million mobile and broadband connections, Telefónica Germany is one of the country’s leading telecommunications providers. Around 7,500 employees deliver comprehensive services to both private and business customers.
To compete for customers and identify optimization potential, the company is increasingly relying on data. From top management to in-store staff, employees are supplied daily with up-to-date KPIs and tailored recommendations for action. At the same time, the principles of self-service and data democratization are being consistently advanced — meaning that more and more employees are able to analyze data and independently generate business value. To meet this growing demand, the company is now migrating its enterprise-wide data warehouse (DWH) to the cloud.
Transformation Amid Ongoing Operations
“We are undergoing a comprehensive transformation process, with the migration of our operational system landscape to the cloud being a key component,” explains Dr. Jens Johannesson, Head of Data Intelligence (DI) at Telefónica Germany. His team is responsible for the DWH as well as all standard reporting for more than 1,000 users across all business units. “Essentially, we cover the entire customer lifecycle with reliable facts — a service we must maintain even while developing the cloud data warehouse.”
This highlights the project’s biggest challenge: completely replacing the technological foundation without disrupting daily operations. The concept for a seamless transition from the old to the new data landscape was developed together with ORAYLIS.
Strategic Partner for Planning and Execution
Within the overall project, ORAYLIS assumes a wide range of responsibilities. First, the team ensures the continued smooth operation of the reporting and self-service platforms. This doesn’t just mean maintaining the status quo.
“Until the official launch of the cloud platform, we are extending the existing solution in line with new business requirements,” says Alexander Thume, COO at ORAYLIS and responsible for Telefónica Germany. He sees this reliability as a key success factor: “Daily operations must run flawlessly so everyone involved can fully focus on the new solution.”
ORAYLIS is also heavily involved as a strategic advisor in the development of the new data platform. “We guide the technology decision-makers throughout the transformation process. Based on our broad experience and best practices, we provided a recommendation for building the cloud platform. From there, we jointly defined the target architecture and approach. This was based on Microsoft’s Modern Data Warehouse concept, which we then tailored to Telefónica’s needs and made fully scalable.” ORAYLIS also oversees implementation efforts carried out by various development partners.
Another key role is bridging the gap between technology and business users. “Thanks to our long-standing collaboration, we bring deep domain expertise in the telecommunications business. We maintain constant dialogue with the business units, helping to define and prioritize topics. Ensuring that users are involved from the very beginning is critical to the project’s success.”
Enabling Greater Automation
Beyond democratizing data, the cloud-based approach enables increasing automation of data transformation and provisioning processes. “That’s why we rely as much as possible on managed cloud services in our new solution,” says Dr. Johannesson. Core backend components include Azure Synapse Analytics and Azure Databricks, while Power BI is used on the frontend as a fully cloud-native service.
With this technical foundation, the company aims to automate decision-making processes to an ever-greater extent. “Particularly at the operational level, we see enormous optimization potential. Just consider how many decisions are made daily in our shops alone — regarding networks, technologies, tariffs, and pricing. With our cloud data platform, we are ideally positioned to support these use cases as well.”
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Lena Gädke
Data Product Owner & Developer, Starpool Finanz GmbH
Microsoft Fabric is perfect for our current situation. We can quickly and efficiently build a modern data and AI platform that is fully up to date. This opens up all kinds of possibilities for us in the future.
The collaboration with ORAYLIS is going very well. We have an honest, almost friendly relationship. I can ask any question without hesitation. Even short-term changes are handled in a pragmatic and solution-oriented manner. This is how I imagine successful collaboration between equals. It’s just a lot of fun.
At a glance
Client: starpool
Industry: Financial services
Project objective: Building a modern, scalable data and AI platform
Technologies: Microsoft Fabric
Many medium-sized companies are currently faced with the challenge of setting the course for their digital future. Since the ChatGPT revolution, at the latest, the business applications of data and artificial intelligence seem almost endless. But what is the right path for your own company? Which technologies make sense and how do I proceed?
Lena Gädke from starpool knows what it means to face these questions. As both data product owner and developer, she is primarily responsible for all data-related issues at the financial services provider, which has 132 employees. Until now, a Qlik Sense system was the main tool she used in her daily work. “We developed the solution ourselves. We connected our data sources directly and developed analysis paths as needed. That was sufficient for creating reports. However, as our requirements grew, we reached our limits in many respects. Above all, we lacked a central location where we could consolidate all our data and make it available for analysis with other tools – in other words, what is essentially a modern data lakehouse.”
It was clear to everyone involved that a completely new solution was needed. The wish list included a comprehensively scalable data and AI platform that could be operated and continuously developed even with a small team.
Data-driven company as a target vision
Starpool’s digital vision corresponds to that of a typical data-driven company: “Overall, we want to make working with data easier,” says Lena Gädke. “Every employee should have access to existing data and evaluations and be able to use them for their activities in a self-service manner. In addition, our goal is to gradually automate as many business processes as possible on the basis of data.”
Against this backdrop, the search for the right technology began. Fabric, a new all-in-one data platform from Microsoft, ultimately won the race. “Our data landscape and that of the group is already based on Microsoft components. Therefore, the move in this direction was only logical. At the same time, Fabric’s enormous innovation potential convinced us. Much of it happens at the touch of a button and is easy to use. This suits our small team very well. Ultimately, the technology is perfect for our initial situation. We can quickly and efficiently build a modern data & AI platform that is fully up to date. This opens up all kinds of possibilities for us in the future.”
All that was missing was the right partner for strategic planning and implementation of the solution. Starpool found this partner through an internet search. “ORAYLIS appears high up in the search results. The company is one of the leading fabric partners in Germany and Austria. From the very first conversation, I felt very comfortable with them, both professionally and personally. In addition, the ORAYLIS consultants were the best prepared of all the candidates. That made the decision easy. Together with my team leader at the time, René Kutz, we then made a pitch to the management and got the final go-ahead for the project.”
Strategy workshop defines the approach
The collaboration began with a special strategy workshop, the Fabric Adoption Planning Series. Here, the goals, the technical solution, and the implementation plan were defined jointly. The participants also put exemplary use cases to the test, which were to be implemented as a first breakthrough during platform development. This way, the solution can generate the first business value right from the start.
The development process itself was extremely straightforward thanks to the all-in-one approach: “Working closely with the group IT department, we only had to make a few basic settings and within a few minutes we had rolled out the basic platform, from data integration and consolidation to data analysis. Fabric clearly delivers what it promises,“ explains André Nünninghof, project manager at ORAYLIS. ”We were then able to connect the desired sources directly and run initial evaluations in Power BI. The tool is an integral part of Fabric and will replace Qlik Sense as the company-wide analysis interface in the future. We are currently seeing this kind of switch from classic BI tools to Fabric and Power BI very frequently.”
The Fabric platform also includes OneLake, a highly scalable data lake. This is where data is collected and made available in an open format for cross-system analysis. The necessary governance and security measures can also be managed centrally. There have been no significant hurdles in applying the new technology: “Fabric is now running very stably,” says André Nünninghoff. “Due to its high complexity, not all functions are fully mature yet. But when the need arose, we always found good solutions without incurring any technical debt.”
Use cases with business value
The first of the selected use cases is a standard application. “We transferred our proven reports from Qlik Sense to Power BI, putting them on a solid foundation,” explains Lena Gädke. “As a result, we can offer our users not only better evaluation functions, but also optimal performance and data quality at all times, as our various sources are now systematically merged and processed.” With the introduction of Power BI, the company-wide database is available to every employee. At the same time, data products such as reports can be integrated into Dynamics and made available to the entire company. This saves the company license costs, as all the necessary resources can be scaled in small increments. From an F64 capacity onwards, the costs for report consumers are completely eliminated.
The second use case, on the other hand, shows where starpool is headed in the future. For the first time, a business process that was originally manual has been successfully automated. “Our customers are primarily financial advisors, whom we support with tools such as our Europace comparison platform and direct consulting services. Newcomers receive special assistance. For example, our key account managers contact them directly after their first sale to offer further support.
Previously, they had to actively check the BI tool and manually record the status. This process is now fully automated in Dynamics. The key account manager receives a notification from the system and can then contact the customer immediately.
Digitalization is being driven forward
With the Fabric platform behind it, starpool’s digitalization initiative is now being driven forward in various areas. “The first step is to connect more and more data sources in order to end the parallel operation of Qlik Sense and Fabric as quickly as possible,” says Lena Gädke. “We are also already working on a follow-up project with ORAYLIS, in which we are integrating additional data products relating to our partners’ activities and transactions into Dynamics. In the future, we also plan to support our partners with data-driven services.”
Otherwise, the players are currently focusing primarily on organizational issues. After all, 132 potential internal users need to be empowered to work with data on a daily basis. A training concept for Power BI is currently being developed. New reports are now being developed hand in hand with users. The goal is to increase data literacy throughout starpool and to install a data ambassador in each team. This person will then be the first point of contact for data issues and will clarify concerns in direct exchange with the data team.
One thing is certain: starpool will continue on its path to becoming a data-driven company together with ORAYLIS. “The collaboration is going very well. We have an honest, almost friendly relationship. I can ask any question without hesitation. Even short-term changes are handled in a very pragmatic and solution-oriented manner. This is how I imagine a successful collaboration between equals. It’s just a lot of fun.”
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igus enhances customer experience through automation
Vladimir Komarov
Leader Delivery Excellence, igus GmbH
When I saw the results of our auto-scheduling, I was very pleased. It’s exactly what we needed. We now have a fully automated process chain based on high-quality data and validated logic and rules. The time savings are clearly noticeable. At the same time, we can now provide our customers with the planning reliability they need faster and more accurately than ever before. Our collaboration with ORAYLIS is opening up entirely new perspectives for us.
At a glance
Customer: igus GmbH
Industry: Manufacturing
Project goal: Development of a process mining solution for the systematic optimization and integration of the company-wide process landscape
Keeping customers fully informed at all times is a key success factor for Cologne-based igus GmbH as well. The manufacturer of complex injection-molded components operates its own Delivery Excellence unit, which checks the status of all orders every day and proactively keeps customers updated on delivery dates and other key information. With more than 1,100 ongoing orders in the pipeline at any given time, this is a considerable effort — which is why the continuous improvement of the underlying processes is also one of the core tasks of the Delivery Excellence team.
Automated workflows inside the igus factory — getting products to customers as quickly as possible. (igus)
“We’re like process truffle pigs — always sniffing around for optimization potential,” jokes Vladimir Komarov. For him, automation is top priority:
“It’s the manual steps that have been slowing our workflows down. A lot of valuable work time is wasted there. That’s why we’ve long been using process mining to identify and close — or automate — our process gaps. But we were never really satisfied with the visualizations alone.”
Relief came in the form of a Celonis platform developed in collaboration with ORAYLIS. It not only enables effective visualization and optimization of every process step that relates to customer communication — it also lays the foundation for systematically evaluating and improving igus’ entire process landscape.
Eliminating Knowledge Monopolies and Wasted Labor
It’s no surprise that customer communication became the first lighthouse project. Determining the current status of all active orders required extensive manual work:
“First, we had to painstakingly extract huge volumes of data into Excel,” explains Komarov.
“A colleague with the required expertise would then validate the results and upload them to the ERP system across multiple steps and files. Finally, each customer was individually informed via email.”
The manufacturing processes of igus products are complex and offer a wide range of optimization potential.
This process not only wasted valuable time — it also carried the risk of human error, which is always difficult to justify to customers. Additionally, the team was dependent on knowledge monopolies:
“Order scheduling relied on just a few people with highly specialized knowledge. Whenever someone went on vacation or fell sick, things were never completely smooth.”
Optimization and Automation — Directly at the Core
The weaknesses in the customer communication process were obvious. These “low-hanging fruits” could be tackled quickly with the new Celonis platform.
“Instead of first visualizing processes and then optimizing them, we directly automated the critical process steps,” explains Sarina Sommer, Process Mining Expert at ORAYLIS.
“Celonis uses dedicated business logic to automatically generate fixed delivery dates for all orders. This has already significantly reduced manual effort and increased value. Manual scheduling is increasingly being replaced by what igus calls auto-scheduling.”
The Delivery Excellence team can now — alongside their daily work — continuously monitor and refine these automated flows using the platform. The overarching goal: a fully optimized process that requires no manual intervention at all.
The Celonis solution relies on consolidated process and status data provided by igus’ enterprise Data Lakehouse. Auto-scheduling is not a standalone tool — it is fully integrated into igus’ cloud-based data infrastructure.
“All required data is extracted from the relevant source systems, centrally stored, and prepared. From there, the platform can generate a real-world process view — with all variants — at the push of a button. Weaknesses can be identified based on facts and resolved effectively. Changes are then written back into the system. This creates a continuous loop of data-driven process optimization.”
Results That Impress
“When I saw the results of our auto-scheduling, I was very satisfied,” confirms Vladimir Komarov. “It’s exactly what we needed. We now have a fully automated process chain based on high-quality data and validated logic and rules. The time savings are clear. And we can now give our customers faster and more accurate planning certainty than ever before. Our collaboration with ORAYLIS has opened up completely new perspectives.”
But this is only the beginning. Auto-scheduling is just one part of a company-wide initiative to systematically optimize all processes — from order entry to shipping. The goal is for every igus employee to be trained and empowered to continuously improve or automate their own process environment. With the Celonis platform, igus now has the perfect technological foundation to achieve this.
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Reliable and fast delivery is our most important success factor. That’s why we are striving for company-wide connectivity between machines and people via the Internet of Things. Together with ORAYLIS, we have created the perfect foundation for this ambitious goal. The first concrete use cases built on our new data platform are very promising — and now we’re ready to truly accelerate. We look forward to continuing to rely on ORAYLIS’ professional and technical expertise.
At a glance
Customer: igus GmbH
Industry: Manufacturing
Project goal: Development of a cloud platform for full connectivity between people and machines as part of an Industry 4.0 scenario
Technologies: Azure IoT Hub, Databricks, Azure Data Lake, Azure Storage Account, Power BI
As an established manufacturer in the injection molding industry, Cologne-based igus GmbH faces the typical challenges of our time: both energy and labor costs are high compared to international standards. At the same time, stricter sustainability requirements are being imposed by policymakers and customers alike. As a result, optimization is needed across all areas in order to maintain a leading position in global competition.
The goal is a fully networked production environment leveraging IoT technologies. (igus)
“We’re under immense pressure to be productive in every respect,” says Stefan Fertmann, Head of Inhouse Automation. “There are countless starting points for improvement, as our manufacturing processes are complex and energy-intensive. We see tremendous untapped potential particularly in process monitoring.”
From Data Foundation to IoT-Driven Automation
To unlock this potential, igus is fully committing to the Industry 4.0 vision:
“We developed a staged roadmap — from building a stable data foundation to complete interconnection of machines and people via the Internet of Things.”
Together with ORAYLIS, igus began executing this ‘Industry 4.0 Masterplan’, and even the first concrete use cases have already delivered remarkable improvements.
Cloud Platform as the Foundation
Stefan Fertmann, Head of Inhouse Automation at igus. (igus)
“We’ve had great experiences with ORAYLIS on several Power BI projects,” explains Stefan Fertmann. “They’ve also successfully delivered similar large-scale initiatives in the past — that convinced us.”
The first stage of the roadmap involved designing and implementing a modern data platform on Microsoft Azure, bringing together all company data centrally — with a special focus on real-time processing.
“Ultimately, IoT simply means connecting live data from a wide range of sources and making it available for various business use cases,” says Christoph Epping, IoT Expert at ORAYLIS.
“At igus, this currently includes production metrics and status messages transmitted directly from machine control systems in real time. Additionally, new sensors are now measuring things like temperature, humidity, and energy consumption. These will be integrated into productive processes next.”
Even with the existing data, the team was quickly able to digitize processes and introduce meaningful improvements.
Real-Time Data Instead of Paper Notes
Until now, shift managers had to walk through 20 to 30 machines daily to check performance and status. Values were recorded manually and later entered into the system — a process that took around 45 minutes per shift in three-shift operation.
The new reporting system now delivers all relevant metrics within seconds.
Christoph Epping, Senior Consultant and IoT expert at ORAYLIS GmbH. (ORAYLIS)
“It’s all about machine output — in units or meters,” explains Epping.
“We take the real-time control data and enrich it with master data from the platform — like location, machine number, and type. This enables deeper analysis by shift, hourly production rates, or weekly distribution. Shift managers can now instantly see throughput, downtimes and disruptions — and we’re already working on implementing automated alerts.”
In addition, a live shop-floor dashboard displays the status of all machines via a traffic-light system, visible to everyone on site.
Looking ahead, the system will be expanded with profitability metrics, and the team is planning predictive maintenance to reduce resource usage, energy consumption and labor effort.
Building an Intelligent, Company-Wide Process Landscape
With the new data platform in place, igus is now systematically reviewing and digitalizing more and more business processes — always keeping the ultimate Industry 4.0 goal in mind:
“The idea is to interlink and digitally control sequential process steps that are technically and functionally related,” says Fertmann.
“What currently works as isolated solutions will gradually become part of a company-wide Internet of Things. This will help us eliminate human error wherever possible.”Future IoT technologies will also support sustainable resource management. (igus)
A clear example comes from production:
“Plastic components for our energy chains are manufactured in a complex process using injection molding machines, then transferred to assembly systems. Networking these steps — with full transparency — allows for precise coordination, optimal utilization and minimal scrap.”
Next on the agenda are use cases beyond production:
“In facility management, we want better insight into energy, air pressure and temperature. Compressed air in particular is a major cost factor — with great savings potential.”
A Flexible Path into the Digital Future
The data platform built with ORAYLIS remains the central launchpad for all further initiatives.
“Thanks to the cloud approach, we’re virtually unlimited,” summarizes Fertmann.
“We can take our digitalization journey one step at a time — always staying agile and ready to pursue new ideas. I’m genuinely excited for the continued collaboration with ORAYLIS and everything that lies ahead.”
We would like to give you the best possible advice and respond to your enquiry, so we would appreciate some initial information. We look forward to getting in touch with you!
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ALPLA – How a global corporation renewed its reporting with a data strategy
Matthäus Greber-Schaffgotsch
Head of IT BI & AI CoE, ALPLA GmbH
We are completely overhauling our global reporting, both technologically and organizationally. In a major project like this, you simply need a long-term partner who thinks strategically and whose judgment you can trust. We have now been working with ORAYLIS for three years and are more than satisfied with the results. We are looking forward to continuing this path of success together.
At a glance
Customer: ALPLA Group, Austria
Industry: Manufacturing
Project goal: Technological and organizational redevelopment of global reporting
Technologies: Databricks, Azure Data Lake, Azure Data Factory, Azure Storage Account, Azure Purview, Power BI
The Austrian ALPLA Group has an impressive company history: Over three generations, the family business has grown from an ambitious two-person operation into a global player in the packaging industry, generating nearly five billion euros annually with more than 23,000 employees. While ALPLA is still managed from the quaint town of Hard on Lake Constance, production is spread across almost 200 locations in 47 countries, offering a range of packaging systems, bottles, closures, and injection-molded parts.
As a result, the company also faces the challenges of operating worldwide. To remain competitive, consumption must be reduced and resources conserved. All production and logistics processes must be interconnected and continuously reviewed. The executives need to maintain an overview of all foreign plants using solid data from the headquarters in Hard.
Watch the full success story in the video:
Demand for Data Analysis Rises Sharply
A high-performance and high-quality reporting system is therefore essential for ALPLA’s success, as Matthäus Greber-Schaffgotsch, Head of IT, BI & AI CoE, confirms: “Our reporting is the virtual lubricant in our business processes. Wherever data is generated, we can enable faster and better decisions. More and more colleagues are discovering this. In recent years, requests from departments have increased massively. And, of course, data and insights should flow in real time wherever possible.”
In fact, demand eventually became so high that both the company’s own data center and the requirement processes reached their capacity limits. “It became increasingly difficult for us to implement new topics for the departments with our old SQL-based data warehouse. At the same time, more and more changes and queries were piling up. And everything was only rudimentarily documented. Further investments simply wouldn’t have made sense.” Consequently, ALPLA decided on a complete fresh start with a modern data platform in the Azure Cloud.
Target Vision: Self-Service, Centrally Managed
Matthäus Greber-Schaffgotsch and his team already had clear objectives for the future solution: “We wanted to unify our reports and key figures across all source systems to provide a much higher level of quality and speed in gaining insights. It was particularly important for us to make working with data much simpler, enabling employees to conduct independent analyses.”
The goal was a “managed self-service” approach, where data ownership remains centralized within the BI team. “The creation of reports should largely be handed over to the departments. Meanwhile, we provide the consolidated datasets and act primarily as advisors.”
For ALPLA, this restructuring meant not only building an appropriate technological foundation in the cloud but also rethinking organizational structures around data usage. With these specifications in mind, the company began searching for a suitable partner to plan and implement the ambitious project.
Data Strategy Assessment Provides Technological Foundation
Finding the right partner was more complex than initially expected: “Especially the high-performance consolidation and provision of our globally distributed data was a major challenge for the candidates,” explains Matthäus Greber-Schaffgotsch. “We also made a team size of 100+ consultants a basic requirement because it was clear we would need to scale repeatedly during the project.”
The decisive recommendation came from Microsoft. ORAYLIS GmbH, an experienced German service provider that had already successfully guided various large companies into the digital future, was brought on board. The project started with a so-called Data Strategy Assessment, which brought the different stakeholders together: “The BI team led the process, but representatives from the business were also involved, each bringing a specific case,” explains Tobias Jasinski, Senior Project Manager at ORAYLIS.
Senior Project Manager Tobias Jasinski, ORAYLIS
“Together, we defined ALPLA’s strategic goals and the specific requirements for a solution. Based on these insights, a modern cloud data architecture was designed, tailored to the company’s needs. The focus was on flexibility, scalability, and easy integration of new data sources. The results were compiled into a strategy document for management, which also transparently outlined costs.”
“Better Together” – Data Platform with Special Features
The new ALPLA platform consolidates all globally distributed data sources in a central location. Essentially, it is a modern data lakehouse built on a proven combination of Azure services, including Data Factory and Storage Account. A key element is Databricks for data processing: “As practice shows, the combination of Microsoft and Databricks is the most economical and powerful way to unlock business data,” says Tobias Jasinski. “We now refer to this as the ‘better-together principle.’”
A strong team: ALPLA and ORAYLIS employees during a plant visit in Fussach. (ORAYLIS)
Additionally, a special automation framework programmed by ORAYLIS is used. It simplifies development and enables central processing of all global data flows with only a 30-minute latency. It also ensures reliable description and provision of multilingual key figures. Power BI is integrated into every employee’s workspace, and its Excel-like interface makes it easy for users to start working with data. Extensive training is only needed in individual cases.
Financial Reporting as a Lighthouse Project
During the Data Strategy Assessment, a business case from the finance department—a cash flow reporting system covering all subsidiaries and the headquarters—was implemented. The technical breakthrough impressed everyone: “In addition to internal data, external sources such as oil prices and exchange rates are also included,” says Andreas Weilguny, Business Analyst in Matthäus Greber-Schaffgotsch’s team. “Users can drill down to individual bookings and reliably forecast future scenarios. For example, it’s possible to simulate almost in real time how changes in oil prices would affect the company.”
Andreas Weilguny is also impressed by the system’s user-friendliness: “What previously had to be compiled manually from various Excel sheets is now available in seconds with Power BI. We save a huge amount of time and simultaneously provide more solid decision-making foundations.”
Developing the Organizational Target Picture
After initial successes, the team focused on building the organizational structure around the new cloud platform. In a series of workshops, a data governance framework was developed with ORAYLIS experts to enable efficient company-wide work with data and guide future platform expansions. The managed self-service approach set the direction.
Sebastian Leyens (l.) and Simon Esser have now taken over leadership of the ALPLA project on behalf of ORAYLIS.
“It’s essentially a framework to implement the company’s data strategy and evolve it into a managed self-service approach,” explains ORAYLIS Project Manager Tobias Jasinski. “In the workshops, responsibilities for governance and individual data sets were defined. Roles were clarified, and all data-driven processes—including their management, monitoring, and execution—were established. The necessary technologies were also selected.”
Data governance ensures that comprehensively available data can only be accessed and modified by authorized personnel. Guidelines were formulated in accordance with legal data protection regulations and internal compliance and are binding for both roles and processes.
Expanding the Data Offering
With company governance and a future-proof technological foundation, ALPLA can now drive its “digital growth” purposefully. Tobias Jasinski emphasizes that these successes result from careful planning and leadership: “ALPLA basically did everything right, including having a decision-making Product Owner fully responsible for the topic and empowered by management. This made the project a success.”
ALPLA employees inspecting a freshly produced bottle
Production is now fully connected to the new data platform. (ALPLA)
In addition to finance, the sales department now has fully modernized reporting, providing employees with detailed insights into customer behavior. All ALPLA plants worldwide are connected to the data platform. With the Operational Plant Manager Cockpit, plant managers can immediately gain an overview of production status. Incidents and quality issues are immediately visible and can be quickly addressed.
Executives in Hard also receive all relevant KPIs in a clear format, allowing one person to manage multiple sites factually and securely—even for short-term decisions. A real-time cockpit for production staff is planned to further optimize resources and workforce management.
More Opportunities for More Employees
Matthäus Greber-Schaffgotsch is very satisfied with the current state of the digitalization initiative. He is particularly pleased that the backlog of reporting requests is a thing of the past: “With clear responsibilities, roles, and processes, we have created a transparent, future-proof structure. We have reduced incidents and improved responsiveness. Thanks to proper documentation, we can also provide departments with transparency at any time.”
Another key benefit is that far more employees now develop and modify reports independently. Matthäus Greber-Schaffgotsch aims to expand this benefit through the cloud platform: “We envision a centrally aligned data mesh, turning our platform into a global data hub. For example, our U.S. locations can access all datasets while complying with data protection. Users can also create, manage, and share their own data products.”
This next project phase is again planned and implemented in cooperation with ORAYLIS: “We are completely overhauling our global reporting, both technologically and organizationally. In a major project like this, you simply need a long-term partner who thinks strategically and whose judgment you can trust. We have now been working with ORAYLIS for three years and are more than satisfied with the results. We are looking forward to continuing this path of success together.”
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MALZERS leads its bakery business into the digital future
Marc Sinner
Head of Financial Accounting, Controlling & Expansion, Malzers Backstube
MALZERS has been successfully working with ORAYLIS for many years. The migration of our proven BI system to the cloud and the implementation of production controlling have once again met our complete satisfaction. Our requirements were fully realized, which is no small feat in the complex bakery business. Whenever something didn’t go smoothly, we were able to discuss it constructively and always found a good solution. That’s why we look forward to continuing our journey into the digital future with ORAYLIS.
At a glance
Customer: MALZERS Backstube
Industry: Retail & Consumer Goods
Project goal: Development of a cloud platform including migration of existing reporting, creation of new production and support reports
Technologies: Databricks, Azure Data Lake, Power BI
For more than 120 years, customer proximity and high product quality have been the key to success for MALZERS Backstube. Today, the family-owned company from Gelsenkirchen offers freshly baked goods in nearly 150 branches. Customers can choose from a wide range of high-quality breads, rolls, cakes, pastries, and other products from morning until evening.
A key part of this exemplary service lies in the targeted use of data: “For several years, we have been managing our branch operations based on detailed receipt data analyses,” explains Marc Sinner. “Our forecasts for the following day have become increasingly accurate. We can also detect unexpected shortages or surpluses in real time and redistribute or replenish goods accordingly.”
Growing Data Volumes and New Challenges
The volume of data to be processed is steadily increasing, putting the existing server infrastructure under pressure. In addition, the company faces new challenges, including data-driven optimizations in response to rising energy and raw material costs, as well as expanding reporting from sales to include production.
A rethink of the data strategy was required, with the core question initially being: should we invest in new servers or take the step into the cloud?
Own Servers vs. Migration to the Cloud
“We debated long and hard whether to invest in our own data center or move to the cloud,” says Marc Sinner. “Our business runs over the counter and is fairly predictable, so the benefits of cloud scalability are not as immediate as they would be for a pure online shop.” In fact, a cloud platform alone would not have added real value for existing reporting. On the contrary, tried-and-tested KPIs and reports from the past seven years would first need to be rebuilt in the cloud.
The decision to move to the cloud was also influenced by personnel changes: “Our production manager retired after 30 years with the company, taking with him a wealth of process know-how. We decided to distribute responsibilities across different shoulders. A new reporting system providing department heads with the necessary transparency for production management and personnel oversight became the basis, making the move to the cloud worthwhile.”
New Solution with a Trusted Partner
For planning and implementation, MALZERS brought in trusted experts. The data specialists from ORAYLIS had already built the existing BI system based on Microsoft SQL Server and continuously developed it with the bakery. They were therefore familiar with the starting point and could provide targeted advice. “We began with a strategy workshop to design the technological framework for a centralized cloud platform tailored to our needs,” says Raphael Bruns, Project Manager at ORAYLIS. “We defined which KPIs, reports, and data sources would be consolidated and developed a roadmap to gradually migrate the existing system to the cloud.”
Raphael Bruns, Senior Project Manager at ORAYLIS
The new data solution was consequently implemented in the Azure Cloud. “Remaining fully within the Microsoft ecosystem made things much easier. Combined with the ORAYLIS Automation Framework, we ensured efficient, cost-effective development and flawless results.” Agile methods supported the process, allowing for quick adjustments when needed.
One example is the mid-project switch from Azure Synapse Analytics as the core processing component: “We found that Synapse costs were getting out of hand. Databricks provided an immediate alternative that met MALZERS’ requirements within budget.” Otherwise, the solution follows Microsoft platform best practices, with an Azure Data Lake storing mass data and Power BI providing company-wide access to familiar data analysis interfaces.
Reporting Compensates for Knowledge Loss
The centralized cloud platform also enabled production controlling, developed in cooperation with ORAYLIS, covering all four production areas. “All department heads now automatically receive the relevant KPIs based on the previous day’s data,” explains Marc Sinner. “These include fulfillment rates, quality and breakage rates, remaining dough, and personnel KPIs—data we used to painstakingly gather from multiple systems.”
Department heads can quickly and comprehensively assess their areas, empowering them to act independently and efficiently manage both production and staff. Detailed data allows for deeper analyses and actionable insights.
For example, the fulfillment rate compares the demand from sales with the produced quantity. This KPI can be broken down to individual items, pinpointing causes for underperformance, such as excessive waste, which can then be addressed with targeted measures.
Not only department heads benefit: management also uses the KPIs for fact-based decisions previously in the domain of the former plant manager. Marc Sinner explains: “Production figures are now part of our daily quality meetings, guiding next steps. Every day, we can eliminate previous errors and continuously improve.”
Entering the Digital Future with the Cloud
Further optimizations are achieved through reporting for support departments, including logistics, fleet management, cleaning, and the company workshop. Product availability has also improved: “Especially before holidays, this is critical,” says Marc Sinner. “District managers can now quickly access additional cloud resources via a ‘Fast Lane’ to check stock availability across their stores instantly—a huge time saver compared to calling each store individually.”
The new platform also opens up numerous future possibilities. “Next, we will focus on sustainability, bringing transparency to raw material usage. Until now, we only had total figures. In the future, we want to assign them to individual departments to identify optimization potential. Reporting will also be expanded to include procurement this year.”
Marc Sinner is clear that MALZERS will continue its digital journey with ORAYLIS: “We have been working successfully together for many years. I am fully satisfied with this project as well. Our requirements were fully implemented, which is not easy in the complex bakery business. Whenever something didn’t go smoothly, we discussed it constructively and always found a good solution. We look forward to continuing our digital future together with ORAYLIS.”
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Telefónica Germany is undergoing a comprehensive transformation process. ORAYLIS is supporting this as a strategic partner for the planning and implementation of the cloud …
In almost every industry, business intelligence (BI) systems offer the possibility of using data to develop new values for one’s own business and the customer. A leading …
One of the fundamental obstacles in the digitalisation of companies is that each specialist department only works in isolation on its own data files. One of our customers …
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Marbach Group: Secure corporate management in fast-moving markets
Dennis Benz
Head of Finance & Controlling, Marbach Group
We place great value on a partner who guides us rather than merely implementing our requests without question. This works extremely well with ORAYLIS. The collaboration on the development of our new sales reporting has always been constructive and goal-oriented.
We had full transparency at all times and quickly and efficiently achieved the desired results. That’s why we will continue our journey toward becoming a data-driven company together with our partner.
At a glance
Customer: Marbach Group
Industry: Manufacturing
Project goal: Centralization of all data on a cloud platform, modernization of reporting, future real-time analysis of production data
Technologies: Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure Data Lake, Power BI
For the Marbach Group from Heilbronn, 2023 is a special year: the family-owned company celebrates its 100th anniversary. What started as a three-person operation founded by Karl Marbach Senior has grown into a market and innovation leader in the construction of tools and stamping dies for packaging. Today, approximately 1,600 employees work at more than 20 locations worldwide. Marbach tools shape a wide variety of product packaging in industries such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and food. A new data platform and reporting solution have now laid the foundation for the company’s transformation into a data-driven organization.
Future-Proofing in a Fast-Moving Business
To continue Marbach’s impeccable success story, executives must navigate the company safely through an increasingly dynamic market environment. “Most of our customers rely on rapid assortment changes,” explains Dennis Benz. “Delivery times of three to four days are sometimes expected for a tool, and nearly every tool is custom-made. And the pace is accelerating further.” Consequently, Dennis Benz must respond to business questions as quickly as possible: “When I receive a call from sales colleagues or management, I need immediate, reliable figures. No one wants to wait for a callback.”
A Cognos data warehouse served the company well for more than ten years. “Our old BI system was already extensive for the company’s size and was well used by our employees. But we also had to think about the future. We wanted to leverage new possibilities in data visualization and mobile reporting, as well as cross-functional data models with new KPIs.” The switch to an IFS ERP system was the perfect opportunity to modernize reporting with Microsoft Power BI and advance the company’s digitalization.
Initial Setback
The first attempt with the new analysis and visualization tool failed. “It wasn’t Power BI itself—it was a technical setup issue,” says Dennis Benz. “We moved too quickly into in-house development and over-engineered the report layouts. The solution was slow, confusing, and unusable for end users.”
Microsoft recommended bringing ORAYLIS on board. The new partner impressed with methods that were new to Marbach: “As part of a Data Strategy Assessment, we created an initial dataset for sales and built a prototype in Power BI with prioritized dimensions and facts. I had never seen anything like this in previous data projects. At first I was skeptical, but the results quickly convinced me. Consistently linked dimensions and facts provided new insights immediately.”
Data Platform and Reporting Revamped
The first step was rebuilding the data foundation. Aligning with the ERP modernization, a cloud approach was chosen—a Data Lakehouse in Microsoft Azure. “We migrated all relevant data from Cognos to this platform and made it available,” explains Raphael Bruns, Project Manager at ORAYLIS. “This includes various sales data, revenue reports, contribution margins, sales volumes, and individual P&L entries—particularly valuable for month-end closing. The right solution architecture combined with highly scalable Azure services enables high-performance delivery for diverse reporting scenarios in Power BI.”
Raphael Bruns, Senior Project Manager bei ORAYLIS. (ORAYLIS GmbH)
Raphael Bruns, Senior Project Manager at ORAYLIS
Simultaneously, the team redesigned Marbach Group’s extensive reporting landscape, this time focusing on balance: “Based on past experiences, we had to find the optimal balance between familiar and new elements,” says Raphael Bruns. “We couldn’t overwhelm users, or we’d lose them. Together, we developed a modern reporting concept aligned with current information design standards.”
Reporting with Multiple Benefits
The new reporting quickly regained user trust, offering clarity and ease of use: “Visualizations provide high value to our users,” emphasizes Dennis Benz. “Many employees can now perform independent analyses for the first time. We can delve deeper into the data and derive meaningful business insights. Previously, KPIs could only be analyzed individually; now, we have a fully linked data model connecting multiple dimensions.”
For Dennis Benz and his department, user independence is key. “I have only three controllers for the entire company. So, alongside high system performance, it’s crucial that users can work with the data independently within defined standards, without coming to us for every question. This allows a small team to manage all tasks effectively.”
The informational content of reports has also increased, integrating new KPIs. For example, end-of-month order backlogs are now immediately visible, enabling proper revenue allocation. Previously, special analyses and IT intervention were needed. Sales can now also see order statuses directly, instantly identifying late deliveries, eliminating the need for previous labor-intensive reports.
Well-Prepared for the Digital Future
The new sales reporting is just the beginning. The cloud platform allows diverse data to be leveraged for business purposes. “We have a full agenda,” confirms Dennis Benz. “Finance reporting has been successfully implemented. Next is HR reporting, followed by production. This will be particularly exciting, with huge data volumes containing extensive optimization potential. Customers will benefit directly through improved transparency of order status and faster delivery times.”
That these plans will be realized with ORAYLIS is unquestioned: “We value a partner who guides us rather than just executing our requests blindly. ORAYLIS does this extremely well. From conception to implementation, the collaboration is always constructive and goal-oriented. We have full transparency at all times and achieve the desired results quickly and efficiently. That’s why we will continue our journey to becoming a data-driven company together with our partner.”
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DEHN strengthens customer relationships through data
Tim Koesler
Data Engineer, DEHN SE
We were aware that many business potentials still lay dormant in our data. Together with ORAYLIS, we moved to the cloud and gradually migrated our existing data solution into a Modern Data Warehouse.
Even today, we see improvements in process and data quality and are already faster and more efficient in implementing data-driven requirements. In the medium term, we aim to implement real-time monitoring of our machine data to continuously optimize production processes and capacity planning.
At a glance
Customer: DEHN SE
Industry: Manufacturing
Project goal: Centralization of all data on a cloud platform, company-wide reporting, real-time analysis of machine data
Technologies: Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure Data Lake, Power BI, Theobald XTract Universal
DEHN SE is a textbook example of a hidden champion—family-owned since 1910, operating in a niche market, highly specialized, and solution-oriented. The company’s products are used worldwide in sectors such as plant and telecommunications engineering, process industries, and photovoltaic and wind power systems. With solutions for lightning, surge, and occupational safety, more than 2,300 DEHN employees globally ensure the protection of people, buildings, equipment, and systems of all kinds.
The DEHN headquarters in Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz. (DEHN)
Customer and Market Orientation as a Foundation for Success
The company’s lasting success is built on a strong customer and market focus, which is now being further enhanced through targeted data use. “We knew there were still many business potentials in our data,” says Tim Koesler. “However, there was no central point in the company to correlate the various sources. We used multiple solutions to analyze our data, but unified, cross-departmental KPIs with future-ready analytics are crucial for corporate management—and ultimately for customer satisfaction.”
Consequently, management decided to build an entirely new data platform. Moving to the cloud was a logical step: “High scalability and easy connection of new data sources were important. We wanted not only a foundation for unified, high-performance reporting across all subsidiaries but also the potential to implement AI and real-time analytics use cases in the future.”
Data Strategy Assessment as Project Kickoff
The first task was to find a partner with sufficient expertise to define a functioning cloud architecture from scratch. “There was an almost endless task list that needed to be converted into a goal-oriented approach,” explains Tim Koesler. After evaluating various providers, ORAYLIS was selected, with a Data Strategy Assessment providing the foundation for the right data strategy.
The first step was a kick-off meeting, followed by strategy development. Based on DEHN’s requirements, the target architecture was defined, technical challenges and potential use cases were clarified, and a concrete cost and resource estimate for the technical infrastructure and reporting was prepared. “I can only recommend this approach to any company with similar projects,” says Tim Koesler.
Modern Data Warehouse as Technological Foundation
The target architecture is a Modern Data Warehouse (MDWH) in the Microsoft Azure Cloud, aligning with DEHN’s existing Microsoft-based systems. “The existing components can be easily migrated into our proven cloud architecture,” explains Martin van Husen, Senior Consultant and Technical Project Manager at ORAYLIS. “The core element is Azure Synapse Analytics, which handles data integration, data warehousing, and big data analytics. On this foundation, we can tailor the new solution to DEHN’s needs and scale it flexibly.”
Martin van Husen guided the project from a technical perspective. (ORAYLIS)
Future scalability is a major advantage. The MDWH can be easily extended with additional Azure Cloud services as new business requirements arise. New data sources can also be integrated seamlessly. Standard connectors are available for third-party technologies such as SAP databases. “Consequently, the effort for deployment is minimal. Only the migration of data load processes requires significant work; everything else runs mostly automatically.”
The MDWH concept also introduces significant changes for the frontend. The old QlikView landscape is largely replaced by Power BI as the modern standard tool for data analysis. The goal is to expand user access, allowing as many employees as possible to work with data. Power BI integrates directly with the familiar Office 365 interface, enabling employees to quickly gain a comprehensive view of data and analyses worldwide. Every department at DEHN benefits from this, as do customers.
Data-Driven Decisions Across the Organization
The company-wide analytics platform has had a positive impact on business operations. It provides a reliable, integrated data foundation that enables DEHN to make data-driven decisions at all levels and in all areas, strengthening customer relationships. “Even now, we are faster and more efficient in implementing data-driven requirements. In the medium term, DEHN aims to implement real-time monitoring of machine data to continuously optimize production processes and capacity planning,” concludes Tim Koesler.
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Telefónica Germany is undergoing a comprehensive transformation process. ORAYLIS is supporting this as a strategic partner for the planning and implementation of the cloud …
In almost every industry, business intelligence (BI) systems offer the possibility of using data to develop new values for one’s own business and the customer. A leading …
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Dr. Pfleger generates new business value from SAP data
Sebastian Rauh
Head of IT, Dr. Pfleger GmbH
We knew that connecting our SAP data with other sources could open up entirely new opportunities for our business. However, we lacked a platform that would provide all our data in a centralized way. Microsoft’s recommendation to involve ORAYLIS was extremely helpful.
Together with our new partner, we quickly implemented a Modern Data Warehouse that seamlessly integrates our SAP sources. Now, anyone in the company can independently link diverse data and derive new insights. Our next steps with ORAYLIS will be to implement various data analysis and forecasting scenarios with automated recommendations for action.
At a glance
Customer: Dr. Pfleger Arzneimittel GmbH
Industry: Healthcare
Project goal: Centralization of all data including SAP integration, automated reporting, ad-hoc analyses
Technologies: Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure SQL Server, Azure Data Lake, Power BI, Theobald XTract Universal
Dr. Pfleger Arzneimittel GmbH has always been committed to innovation as well as promoting people’s health and quality of life. Consequently, digitalization ranks high on the Bavarian pharmaceutical manufacturer’s agenda. “We want to fully unlock the potential of our data for our business. Everyone in the company should be able to perform analyses using harmonized data from various sources,” says Sebastian Rauh, Head of IT at Dr. Pfleger. “We also want to leverage Artificial Intelligence in the future to gain new insights and create more effective, transparent business processes.”
Data Was Trapped in Silos
The prerequisites for this had to be created first. Dr. Pfleger faced challenges similar to many companies: “We were working with different data silos and reporting tools. For example, our SAP data was reported in isolation from other sources using Qlik Sense. Additional systems were used to create reports for various audiences.” Decision-makers therefore lacked not only universally applicable KPIs for business management but also the ability to perform ad-hoc analyses efficiently.
“This was a significant loss, especially for our SAP data, as it covers critical areas of our value chain. We knew that connecting it with other sources could unlock entirely new business opportunities. However, we were unsure how to approach this project. We faced a mountain of solutions and vendors—the question was, what was the best fit to develop us into a Data Driven Company?”
Data Strategy Provides Clarity
Dr. Pfleger turned to Microsoft during their search. “Microsoft recommended ORAYLIS as a partner, and from that point, things gained momentum.” ORAYLIS started with a Data Strategy Assessment involving all project participants. In the workshop, participants developed the appropriate approach for the data-driven transformation of the business.
“We evaluated Dr. Pfleger’s requirements and objectives and compared them with the current situation,” explains Jens Kröhnert, Principal Solution Architect at ORAYLIS and the creator of this workshop format. “This quickly clarified the right technical solution, the business benefits, and the associated costs.” All results were documented in a management-ready strategy document, which also included an initial flagship project and next steps.
Principal Solution Architect Jens developed the data strategy for the digitalization project with Dr. Pfleger.
MDWH as Technological Foundation
The technological foundation for the first project and future requirements is a Modern Data Warehouse (MDWH) implemented in collaboration with Microsoft Azure Cloud services. “The cloud approach offers cost advantages since all services are used and paid for on demand,” says Jens Kröhnert. “Most importantly, storage and compute power can be scaled independently to any desired level.” This enables a data lake, which serves as the core element of the digital platform, consolidating and providing all structured and unstructured data—including SAP sources—automatically as needed.
SAP Data Seamlessly Integrated
SAP integration is implemented via a connector from Theobald Software. “Our connector communicates directly through the SAP RFC interface, ensuring seamless integration and daily data availability,” explains Niklas Kohlenberg, Sales & Partner Manager at Theobald Software. “Installation and setup are very straightforward. We provide standardized access to the SAP environment, minimizing development and later maintenance work.” Jens Kröhnert from ORAYLIS confirms: “We use these connectors in most of our projects. At Dr. Pfleger, the deployment was straightforward without extensive onboarding or Theobald service support. It’s very easy to handle.”
Power BI Enables New Insights
The new reporting tool is also seamlessly integrated. Following Microsoft’s approach, Qlik Sense is being replaced by Power BI. Microsoft’s analysis service integrates smoothly into the overall solution, allowing every potential user in the company to access data through a unified interface, recombine it, and analyze it using advanced features. At the same time, the company saves on licensing costs.
“All of our departments are excited to link diverse data sources and generate new business value,” says Sebastian Rauh. Looking ahead, he adds: “In the next steps, we want to implement various forecasting scenarios and automated recommendations for action. The MDWH has already provided the technical foundation, so we are looking forward to continued collaboration with the ORAYLIS team.”
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Telefónica Germany is undergoing a comprehensive transformation process. ORAYLIS is supporting this as a strategic partner for the planning and implementation of the cloud …
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Isabellenhütte embarks on digital future with data strategy assessment
Joachim Heilig
Head of Inhouse Consulting, Isabellenhütte Heusler GmbH & Co. KG
Through ORAYLIS’ Data Strategy Assessment, we were able to pinpoint our requirements for a new BI solution at breathtaking speed. Together, we developed a vision that went far beyond our initial ideas: with a Modern Data Warehouse in the Microsoft Azure Cloud, we are now creating a future-proof analytics platform that not only fully meets our current needs but also positions us perfectly for our journey toward Industry 4.0.
The follow-up project to further expand our new platform is already planned—naturally again with ORAYLIS.
At a glance
Customer: Isabellenhütte Heusler GmbH & Co. KG
Industry: Manufacturing / Precision Measurement Technology and Power Resistors
Project Goal: Automated reporting and ad-hoc analyses across the entire company, with a future focus on Industry 4.0
Technologies: Azure Synapse Analytics, Data Lake Storage, Power BI
Isabellenhütte is considered the oldest industrial company in Hesse. Now in its eighth generation, the former copper smelter has remained in family hands. One key to its longevity: alongside tradition, innovation has always been nurtured. Today, Isabellenhütte is a global technology leader in precision measurement technology and power resistors. Every day, vast amounts of data are generated, which could provide significant business advantages—if processed and made available in a targeted manner.
However, for a long time, an outdated business intelligence (BI) landscape stood in the way: “We were still working with a system based on IBM Cognos,” explains Joachim Heilig, Head of Inhouse Consulting at Isabellenhütte. “It dated back to 2009—before our SAP implementation—and was no longer supported.” Modern reporting for fast, fact-based decision-making was no longer feasible. “A reliable data foundation and automated, cross-departmental KPIs were missing. We wanted to reduce manual effort and initially provide flexible self-service analyses for departments such as Controlling and Sales. In the long term, this should be extended to the entire company. Industry 4.0 and Machine Learning were also on our near-future agenda.”
Data Strategy Assessment Provides Orientation
However, finding the right technology and implementation partner proved challenging. “There are so many players on the market. We reviewed numerous solutions and providers,” says Joachim Heilig. “Ultimately, Microsoft convinced us—not least through the ORAYLIS Data Strategy Assessment.”
For the Isabellenhütte team, the approach of conducting a detailed strategy workshop already during the selection phase was new. “Most competitors limit themselves to mere tool presentations. We also had some doubts about starting such a comprehensive project in a fully virtual workshop due to the pandemic.”
These concerns quickly disappeared. “Daniel Esser and Andreas Siemes from ORAYLIS immediately convinced us with their professionalism and approachable, down-to-earth manner. Under their guidance and through the structured workshop methodology, we were able to formulate and continuously refine our requirements at breathtaking speed—including analyzing pains & gains and stakeholder perspectives.”
New Visions for Digital Transformation
The Data Strategy Assessment identified and organized the key topics essential for project success. This resulted in a multi-year vision that far exceeded the original ideas and expectations: “During the workshop, it became increasingly clear that it made no sense to merely replace our old BI tool. Instead, we are now implementing a future-proof Modern Data Warehouse in the Azure Cloud—a company-wide analytics platform seamlessly integrated into our IT ecosystem with Power BI as the frontend.”
As a result, Isabellenhütte can fully meet its current requirements for company-wide data analysis. The highly scalable and tightly integrated Azure services also allow the digital platform to be flexibly extended in the future for new use cases, such as Data Science and Industry 4.0. At the same time, the Data Strategy Assessment provided all participants with a clear view of the next steps: “During the workshop, we already defined an initial lighthouse project, connecting our SAP sources to the new platform and implementing sales reporting in Power BI. The efforts were transparently estimated in a joint exercise, and the resulting decision document immediately convinced our management.”
Rapid Path to First Successes
In the follow-up project, additional data sources, such as production and process data, will be utilized. (Isabellenhütte)
Thanks to the precise elaboration of all workshop contents, the first components of sales reporting were successfully launched in record time. The offering has since been continuously expanded by the key-user team. Decision-makers at different levels now automatically receive up-to-date information based on uniform data and KPIs. If necessary, any employee can perform deeper analyses and gain additional insights.
But this is only the beginning, as Joachim Heilig confirms: “We are thrilled with the initial successes and can unreservedly recommend ORAYLIS. Despite the entirely virtual project execution, the team collaboration was excellent from the start, almost like a friendship. We experienced our consultants as a well-coordinated team. The atmosphere was always open, and the presentation of efforts was very transparent. Therefore, the follow-up project to further expand our Modern Data Warehouse is already planned—of course, again with ORAYLIS.”
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Telefónica Germany is undergoing a comprehensive transformation process. ORAYLIS is supporting this as a strategic partner for the planning and implementation of the cloud …
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Our managers previously had access to current sales data only with a significant delay. Ad-hoc analyses were out of the question. Together with ORAYLIS, we consolidated and made usable our numerous datasets from different systems, enabling us to finally manage our store operations efficiently.
As a result, we were able not only to reduce our return rates and optimize our product range, but also to develop an automated fraud detection system that reliably identifies irregularities. We owe these achievements to the close and trusted collaboration with ORAYLIS. This is why we are now taking the next step into the cloud together with our partner.
At a glance
Customer: Malzers Backstube GmbH & Co. KG
Industry: Retail / Industrial Bakery
Project Goal: Forecasting production volumes, managing day-to-day operations using current sales data, ad-hoc analyses
Technologies: SQL Server, Power BI, Azure Cloud (planned)
Malzers Backstube is a true institution in and around the Ruhr area. For 120 years, the Gelsenkirchen-based bakery chain has been serving its customers with fresh baked goods, from rolls to cakes. Today, the company offers its products at over 150 locations, generating massive amounts of data daily. Malzers’ retail business is “high-frequency,” meaning many transactions are completed in a short period with relatively small amounts. Consequently, the volume of receipts and resulting transaction data is extensive.
However, for a long time, the company was unable to fully leverage this treasure trove of data. “All our data resided in different systems,” explains Klaus-Jürgen Mader, CFO at Malzers. “It required an enormous amount of manual effort to prepare the data. As a result, our managers could access reports only with significant delays. Detailed ad-hoc analyses were out of the question. And because of the missing data foundation, there were no uniform KPIs. In many areas, store management was based on gut feeling, where data could have enabled informed decisions.”
Starting with a “Seemingly Impossible” Task
Everyone at Malzers was aware of the massive business and growth potential in the unused data. Yet starting a new data solution initially seemed daunting: “It felt like an impossible task,” says Klaus-Jürgen Mader. “We had no idea how to reconcile the different expectations and goals of the various people and departments.”
This led to a collaboration with ORAYLIS. “With the support of the ORAYLIS experts, we were able to build the necessary know-how about the technical components and the right project approach.” During the development phase, the Malzers team also learned to appreciate the advantages of agile methods. “This meant we didn’t have to write endless requirements documents, which are often only partially completed and consume a lot of capital. At the same time, we could quickly respond to developments and continuously adjust.”
New Data Platform Improves Internal Processes
The result of the collaboration is a business intelligence platform based on Microsoft technologies that consolidates the various data silos. The central data platform automatically provides standardized reports for different business areas such as store management, controlling, production, and executive management. Manual efforts for data collection and preparation are reduced to a minimum. What used to take days or weeks is now available at the push of a button as a clearly structured decision support tool. Data is updated almost in real-time, allowing day-to-day operations to be managed without significant delays.
Additionally, all departments now have access to the data. For individual analyses, different user groups have the appropriate tools, such as Power BI or Excel. This allows all employees to perform ad-hoc analyses at any time, answering complex questions and generating new insights.
Multiple Benefits for Business and Customers
The extensive improvements in data analysis also have direct business impacts. “Ultimately, we decide each day, based on current events, what quantities to produce for the next day,” explains Klaus-Jürgen Mader. “Thanks to our new solution, these forecasts are much more reliable—because they are data- and fact-based. We can also detect unexpected shortages or surpluses during the day and respond quickly, for example by reallocating or restocking goods.” This ensures that sales potential is fully exploited and revenue is increased. At the same time, return rates were reduced and the product range optimized.
But that’s not all: “Naturally, our customers are also more satisfied and remain loyal longer, as they can choose from the full range of fresh goods at any time of the day.” Additionally, an automated fraud detection system reliably identifies irregularities by combining transaction data with scheduling plans. “All of these results are thanks to the close and trusted collaboration with ORAYLIS. This is why we are now taking the next step into the cloud together with our partner.”
We would like to give you the best possible advice and respond to your enquiry, so we would appreciate some initial information. We look forward to getting in touch with you!
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Julia Günther
Developer, Elkamet Kunststofftechnik GmbH
We lacked a unified solution to effectively analyze our extensive production data. Together with ORAYLIS, we quickly built a comprehensive analytics platform in the Azure Cloud that enables all employees to do exactly that.
We can now manage and optimize our production processes using daily data. Our managers also have access to standardized analyses, allowing them to make important decisions quickly and reliably. We are therefore pleased to have found a competent partner in ORAYLIS, who understands our requirements and delivers suitable solutions.
At a glance
Customer: Elkamet Kunststofftechnik GmbH
Industry: Manufacturing / Plastic Components for Vehicles and Lighting
Project Goal: Daily production reporting, ad-hoc analysis of production data, self-service report creation
Technologies: Azure Synapse Analytics, Power BI
Elkamet GmbH has been developing and producing high-quality plastic components for the automotive and lighting industries since 1955. The family-owned company, headquartered in Biedenkopf, Hesse, currently employs more than 1,200 people across six locations. The production processes are based on state-of-the-art technologies, generating large amounts of data—valuable raw material that, for a long time, provided little business benefit. “We had collected our extensive production data in an Abas ERP system,” explains Julia Günther, Developer at Elkamet. “However, we lacked the tools to process, analyze, and provide this data in a centralized reporting system.”
As a result, managers had little fact-based insight to optimize production processes. Production staff could not quickly get an overview of their current situation, and advanced analyses of production data were out of the question. “At that time, we already knew a modern business intelligence system would help,” says Julia Günther. “The full range of possibilities only became clear through our partnership with ORAYLIS.”
Modern Cloud Platform Creates Future Security
Matthias Petig, Senior Consultant bei ORAYLIS.
Together with ORAYLIS, Elkamet built a complete Modern Data Warehouse (MDWH) in the Azure Cloud in a short period. “We migrated all relevant data from the ERP system using Azure Synapse Analytics and made it available for the desired use cases. The data is updated several times a day,” explains Matthias Petig, Technical Project Manager at ORAYLIS. “Reporting and self-service analyses are then carried out via Power BI.” Reports are embedded directly into the employees’ work interfaces. “Users don’t need to log in or navigate extensively to access the data. Most importantly, there are no licensing costs for the many machine workstations. The embedded solution covers everything, including updates and maintenance.”
Another advantage of the cloud approach is that storage and computing resources can be scaled independently to any desired level. Elkamet can also easily integrate new applications in the future, such as AI use cases. “This is simple because all Azure services work seamlessly together. Technologically, Elkamet is very well positioned for the future,” adds Matthias Petig.
Rapid Development Through Agile Methods
Agile methods also contributed significantly to the fast development pace. “Through the ORAYLIS team, we learned and appreciated agile working methods,” says Julia Günther. “We worked in two-week sprint cycles. After each sprint, new features were presented to the departments and evaluated as a team.” Project progress was visible to all stakeholders, creating transparency and acceptance. “This approach also allowed us to respond more flexibly to departmental change requests, leading to better, more practical results. Agile methods are now firmly established at Elkamet.”
Julia Günther is very satisfied with the collaboration with ORAYLIS: “It was true teamwork on equal footing, based on mutual trust. Through intensive training and support from ORAYLIS, we were able to develop solution components independently at an early stage. This enables us today to maintain and further develop our MDWH infrastructure independently.”
Solution Increases Machine Efficiency and Reduces Production Costs
“Through the resulting measures, we increase the efficiency of our production while simultaneously reducing costs,” says Marcus Schneider, Head of Production Planning at Elkamet.
In daily operations, the new solution brings multiple improvements. “Through centralized reporting, our production staff now have access to daily analyses that allow them to assess their area at a glance,” explains Marcus Schneider. Production managers and process optimizers can also use ad-hoc analyses to gain deeper insights into potential weaknesses and the causes of disruptions. “The resulting measures continuously improve our production efficiency while reducing costs. At the same time, our customers benefit from shorter delivery times and higher product quality.”
The Elkamet team can also independently create new reports with Power BI as needed. For example, new content is currently being developed for sales, enabling more targeted and ultimately more successful sales activities. “Above all, we are pleased to have found a competent partner in ORAYLIS, who takes the time to understand our requirements and supports us in developing suitable solutions,” concludes Julia Günther.
We would like to give you the best possible advice and respond to your enquiry, so we would appreciate some initial information. We look forward to getting in touch with you!
That worked
Thank you very much!
We will get in touch with you as soon as possible.
Telefónica Germany is undergoing a comprehensive transformation process. ORAYLIS is supporting this as a strategic partner for the planning and implementation of the cloud …
The management of a leading German seaport was dissatisfied with its reporting: the different business units all worked with different analysis solutions, so that a …
Evaluating sales performance has always been a special challenge for mobile phone providers: normally, the revenues and contribution margins from new contracts and contract …
The Marbach Group has established the foundation for digitizing its entire business with a central cloud platform. The team first modernized all reporting processes. The …
With our newsletter we inform you regularly about the most important news from the industry. Look forward to sustainable impulses for your daily work and an exclusive insight into the ORAYLIS world! Of course, you can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time. You can find information on data protection here.
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Future IoT technologies will also support sustainable resource management. (igus)
