A Concrete Business Pumps Out Valuable Insights
In the fast-paced world of construction, having timely and accurate insights is crucial for making informed decisions. Our client, a leading concrete pumping services provider serving both commercial and residential markets, faced challenges in accessing and analyzing data from their on-premise Sage 300 CRE installation. They needed a robust data pipeline that could extract relevant information, model it, and make it available for reporting and trend analysis.
The Problem
The construction company’s existing process involved manual data extraction from Sage 300 CRE, which was time-consuming and error-prone. They needed a solution that would automate this process, provide real-time access to critical data, and enable them to gain deeper insights into their business operations.
The Solution: Building the Data Pipeline
1. Data Extraction
Our team at Blue Data Works designed a data pipeline that seamlessly connected to the customer’s Sage 300 CRE system. Using our core technology and industry best-practices, we extracted data related to invoices, customer details, locations, and other relevant information. The extraction process was scheduled to run periodically to keep the data up-to-date.
2. Data Transformation and Modeling
Once the raw data was extracted, we transformed it into a structured format suitable for analysis. We cleaned the data, handled missing values, and created relationships between different tables. Our team also modeled the data using best practices to ensure optimal performance in downstream tools like Power BI.
3. Integration with Power BI
The heart of the solution lay in integrating the transformed data with Power BI, Microsoft’s powerful business intelligence tool. We set up automated refresh schedules so that the reports were always based on the latest data. The following insights were made available through Power BI:
Invoice Status Across Customers and Locations: The construction company could now track invoice statuses (e.g., pending, paid) across various customers and project sites. This helped them identify bottlenecks in payment processing and take corrective actions.
Detailed Invoice Aging Reports: By analyzing invoice aging trends, they could proactively manage collections and address overdue payments. The reports highlighted aging buckets (e.g., 30 days, 60 days) for each customer.
Custom Reporting and Trend Analysis: Our solution allowed custom report creation based on specific business requirements. Whether it was analyzing revenue trends or monitoring project costs, the construction company had the flexibility to build tailored reports.
Results
The impact of our data pipeline was significant:
Efficiency: Manual data extraction time reduced drastically.
Accuracy: Elimination of human errors during data extraction.
Insights: Real-time access to critical business metrics.
Decision-Making: Informed decisions based on up-to-date information.
At Blue Data Works, we believe that every business can benefit from efficient data pipelines. By connecting Sage 300 CRE to Power BI, we empowered our client with actionable insights that transformed their decision-making process.
About Blue Data Works: We specialize in building robust data solutions for businesses across various industries.