Collaboration through Building Blocks
Traditional collaboration, achieved through a mixture of business intelligence reports, desktop application files, e-mails, and other means, is the equivalent of collaborative document editing. The limitations of this approach become apparent as the number of parties involved grows. Moreover, collaborating parties cannot easily build upon each other’s work. Wikipedia is a perfect example, where collaboration is the foundation, instead of the consequence—domain experts participate by building upon existing work in a uniform and open editing environment.
InetSoft’s operational BI solutions are designed with the same concept, where domain experts bring their knowledge of a business area and the associated “Data Blocks,” reports, and visualization. These objects are not only intelligence themselves, but also the building blocks for future intelligence needs. The uniform infrastructure exposes the needed data and intelligence while leaving the details to the respective domain experts.
This approach drives direct productivity gains throughout the organization and minimizes both the initial IT investment and ongoing maintenance. It also leverages existing investments in business intelligence for new uses.
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Exploration through Visualization
Traditional BI invests expensive IT resources to incorporate new data into the BI infrastructure before any analysis is possible. The dynamic of operations makes data exploration an essential component in making sense of today’s quickly changing environment.
InetSoft operational BI combines Data Block technology with visualization for highly dynamic exploration and visual analysis. Atomic Data Blocks are assembled from disparate data sources including databases, data warehouses, Web services, and flat files for data exploration. Visualization uses intuitive presentation and interactivity to allow users to analyze and view data from new angles. This low-overhead approach opens the door for a wide range of BI needs that otherwise would be too expensive to serve. Building advanced requirements from the results of exploration drastically improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire BI implementation.
Integration: People, Process and Technology
Integration is not only a technological concern; it is more about the people and the processes. In addition to highly trained analysts, operational users are a diverse group that includes basic knowledge workers and sophisticated managers. An operational BI solution must be easy to use so that every member of this population can play a role. Operational BI needs to deliver immediately actionable items tightly linked to existing systems. This requires an unprecedented degree of integration between operational BI and business processes. In fact, operational BI often becomes a seamless part of everyday business applications.
InetSoft’s operational BI platform integrates people and processes through open standards based technology. Data analysts and domain experts collaborate through InetSoft’s Data Blocks allowing exploration and visualization of complex data. Managerial dashboards, scorecards, and alerts focus on distilled, high-level KPIs identified through exploration.
By focusing on delivering innovation, InetSoft has established a new approach that incorporates best practices of traditional BI with real-time information flow. The end result transforms BI from a predominantly IT centric initiative to a more business user directed initiative that offers a low TCO and rapid ROI.
Case Study: Implementing Operational Business Intelligence Best Practices in an Obligate Aerobe Culturing Firm
Obligate aerobe culturing is a specialized sector within biotechnology that focuses on the cultivation of microorganisms requiring oxygen to grow. Efficient management and operational oversight are crucial in this field to ensure optimal culture conditions, high yield, and quality control. This case study examines how BioCulture Innovations, a leading obligate aerobe culturing firm, successfully implemented operational business intelligence (OBI) best practices to enhance their operations, improve product quality, and drive business growth.
Background
BioCulture Innovations specializes in producing high-purity cultures of obligate aerobic microorganisms for various applications, including pharmaceuticals, environmental bioremediation, and industrial biotechnology. Despite their expertise, the firm faced several challenges:
- Data Silos: Operational data was fragmented across different systems, hindering comprehensive analysis.
- Inefficient Processes: Manual data collection and analysis processes were time-consuming and error-prone.
- Quality Control: Ensuring consistent culture quality required real-time monitoring and rapid response to any deviations.
To address these issues, BioCulture Innovations decided to implement OBI best practices, aiming to integrate their data, streamline operations, and enhance decision-making capabilities.
Implementation
1. Identifying Key Operational Metrics: The first step was to identify critical operational metrics that would provide insights into the firm's performance. Key metrics included:
- Culture Growth Rates: Monitoring the growth rates of various cultures to ensure optimal conditions.
- Oxygen Levels: Ensuring appropriate oxygen concentration in culture environments.
- Contamination Rates: Tracking instances of contamination to maintain high culture purity.
- Production Yield: Measuring the quantity of microorganisms produced per batch.
- Resource Utilization: Analyzing the usage of media, reagents, and other resources.
2. Selecting the Right OBI Tools: BioCulture Innovations chose a robust OBI platform that could integrate data from multiple sources, including laboratory information management systems (LIMS), environmental sensors, and production databases. The platform provided real-time data visualization, advanced analytics, and automated reporting capabilities.
3. Data Integration and Centralization: The firm centralized their data by integrating all relevant systems into the OBI platform. This ensured that data from different departments, such as production, quality control, and supply chain management, was consolidated and accessible from a single interface.
4. Developing Customized Dashboards: Customized dashboards were developed to provide real-time insights into key operational metrics. These dashboards were tailored to the needs of different user groups, from laboratory technicians to senior management, ensuring that everyone had access to the information they needed.
5. Training and Change Management: Comprehensive training sessions were conducted to familiarize staff with the new OBI tools and processes. Change management initiatives were also implemented to ensure a smooth transition and encourage widespread adoption of the new system.
Results
1. Enhanced Operational Efficiency: The integration of data and automated reporting significantly reduced the time spent on manual data collection and analysis. This allowed staff to focus on more value-added activities, improving overall operational efficiency by 25%.
2. Improved Quality Control: Real-time monitoring of critical parameters, such as oxygen levels and contamination rates, enabled rapid detection and response to any deviations. This led to a 30% reduction in contamination incidents and ensured consistent culture quality.
3. Increased Production Yield: By closely monitoring and optimizing culture growth conditions, BioCulture Innovations achieved a 20% increase in production yield. This not only boosted profitability but also enhanced the firm's ability to meet growing demand.
4. Better Resource Utilization: Detailed analysis of resource utilization helped identify areas for improvement and cost savings. The firm optimized the use of media and reagents, reducing waste and lowering operational costs by 15%.
5. Data-Driven Decision Making: The availability of real-time data and advanced analytics empowered managers to make informed decisions quickly. This improved agility and responsiveness, enabling the firm to adapt to changing market conditions and customer needs more effectively.