Success Story - Hortima AG

The customer

Hortima AG is now one of the leading providers of supplies for horticulture, tree nurseries, fruit growing, viticulture and the forestry sector thanks to continuous growth. Its main products include wood products, containers, wire products, irrigation systems and plant protection and care. Founded in 1972 as a family business, the company is based in Hausen bei Brugg and employs over 30 people. 

Cost-efficient and in-depth data analysis 

With over 4,000 products constantly available, Hortima offers a comprehensive range of quality plant-related products - from Felco blades to bamboo sticks and containers. The articles are managed in a specially developed ERP system, which is operated in its own server room in a virtual machine environment.

The wholesaler for tree nursery and horticultural supplies has deliberately opted not to use a standard ERP solution in order to be able to respond to customer requests such as partial deliveries and customer-specific invoice blocks at any time and also to remain efficient in the warehouse and returns process.

Hortima was hoping for even greater efficiency in its business processes through a more comprehensive evaluation of control-relevant data, according to Peter Müller, Head of HR & IT at Hortima AG: ‘We already had access to small financial applications via our ERP software partner. However, these only offered basic insights such as financial reports on sales and margins of articles and suppliers. They lacked the depth and flexibility to correlate data and analyse complex relationships.’ In addition, Hortima wanted to analyse data independently without having to involve an external partner for the development of applications.

When looking for a suitable solution, it was important to Hortima that the software was easy to install, had a user-friendly interface and could be easily customised to the needs of the users. ‘With 30 employees, we are a comparatively small company - but we still need data-driven management, but with a solution that is also affordable for us,’ adds Peter Müller.

Effective data utilisation at manageable costs  

Hortima decided in favour of using Qlik Sense SaaS and hosting the solution in the Qlik Cloud.

Qlik Sense SaaS impressed with its intuitive user interface and powerful visualisation tools, which enable users without extensive technical knowledge to perform complex data analyses.

The low investment costs were also a decisive factor in the decision: as Qlik Sense SaaS is based on a subscription model, companies do not have to make a large upfront investment in software licences, but instead pay a monthly or annual subscription price.

Qlik Sense SaaS also allows small businesses to scale their analytics platform as needed. They can easily add or remove users as their business grows and adjust computing power accordingly - a plus point for Hortima in terms of future-proofing.

As the software is hosted in the cloud, Qlik takes responsibility for maintenance, updates and security patches. This saves Hortima time and resources. It also ensures that the software is always up to date.

Fast implementation  

Hortima was supported by Qlik Elite Channel Partner Informatec during the project implementation. ‘I found Informatec to be very cooperative,’ emphasises Peter Müller. ‘The team understood our needs as a small company very well and found a project mode that suited us both in terms of content and financially. Informatec not only supported us with the implementation of the solution, but also actively helped us to better understand the application and handle it independently. This coaching approach helped to make the development process extremely efficient. Six weeks after our initial workshop, the first application was already up and running. Today, I continue to develop the applications myself.’

The ERP system, which is based on a PostgreSQL database, is connected to Qlik. The data is updated daily overnight.

Peter Müller is responsible for customising and creating applications. The input as to which analyses are needed comes from the employees and the management. They can either access Qlik Sense directly or receive the desired analyses by e-mail in file form.

Visual sales analyses  

In Qlik, for example, sales and turnover are mapped ‘Analysing which items were doing well and which were doing badly used to be a real challenge,’ recalls Peter Müller. ‘We could see the sales and turnover figures in our ERP system, but only at the level of the individual item - to check our product range, we had to click through 4,000 items individually. With Qlik, we can use bubble charts or similar visualisations to see at a glance which products have the strongest sales and the highest margin, which items have a high margin but are selling poorly, or vice versa.’

Product range analysis

Qlik is also used for product range planning. In addition to the question of which new products should be included in the range, the focus is on which prices should be set for the approximately 4,000 items. Previously, product management did not have the opportunity to look deeper into the data when preparing the catalogue every six months in order to incorporate price developments into their decisions, for example.

‘We don't have a specific growth strategy or an explicit growth target, as our growth is organic,’ explains Peter Müller. ‘Nevertheless, we have currently reached a physical capacity limit. This makes it all the more important to ensure that we stock the right products. In other words, products that optimally fulfil our customers' needs. Analysing the product range is correspondingly important for us.’

Stock value analysis in seconds instead of hours

One of the key applications of Qlik at Hortima is stock value analysis. ‘As a wholesaler, our capital is heavily tied up in stock, so accurate stock valuation is crucial for us,’ explains Peter Müller. ‘Previously, this analysis was carried out manually by the managing director, which meant hours of work. The accuracy was prone to error and inaccuracies were not uncommon. Today, we are able to carry out this analysis on a daily basis. Our managing director can call up the information at any time in a matter of seconds and be sure that it is based on consistent, up-to-date data.’

Qlik is also used to analyse stock levels, explains Peter Müller: ‘Our purchasing department always has to make sure that we have enough goods in stock. In the past, the ERP system could only provide an insight if the minimum stock level for a particular item was not reached. Qlik Sense now precisely analyses which items frequently fall to zero or below zero - and not only at individual item level but also at product group level. We can also incorporate other information, such as the latest sales figures, and gain insights into when it makes sense to increase stock levels.’

Transparency regarding productivity and workload

In the HR department, Peter Müller uses the BI solution to analyse key figures such as fluctuation and productivity. ‘We have deliberately dispensed with hierarchies in our company. This makes it all the more important to use key figures to make transparent how our staff are developing and whether we are working productively in the various areas. This is now very easy to do with Qlik.’

The HR manager has also created an evaluation that shows the overall workload. On a daily basis, it shows how many orders have been recorded, how many have been completed, how many quotations have been created and how many complaints have been processed. This analysis allows Hortima to check the utilisation of its employees and make adjustments accordingly. ‘If we see that the workload is too high in certain areas, we can take measures to increase efficiency, either by optimising processes or by hiring additional staff,’ says Peter Müller.

Optimisation of the customer approach

Hortima is currently modernising its webshop. In this context, Peter Müller has carried out an analysis showing the development of the various contact and order types over the last 10 years. It became clear how the use of the telephone has decreased over time, while orders via the Internet have increased. ‘This realisation has once again encouraged us to invest in a better web shop in order to continue to meet the needs of our customers in the future.’

In future, a customer analysis application will be available to analyse which items have been purchased, what turnover has been generated and how sales and turnover have changed over time at the level of each individual customer. ‘We will also provide our customers with analyses on request,’ says Peter Müller. ‘For example, if they want to see how many items they have bought in recent years, what they have paid for them and how prices have developed over time, as well as what long-term discounts we grant them.’

Result - Greater analysis capability, lower costs

By using Qlik Sense, Hortima has significantly improved its analytical capabilities: ‘We gain deeper and valuable insights into our warehouse and our sales strategies, which we use as a basis for business decisions,’ confirms Peter Müller: ‘The data analytics solution has also helped us to save costs. "Previously, we would have had to have every analysis implemented by our software partner, which would have entailed considerable additional costs. The implementation of Qlik has not only reduced our workload, but also optimised our costs, as we are now able to carry out analyses internally and access the required information directly."

The area of application of Qlik at Hortima will continue to grow. For example, it is planned to implement the analyses previously mapped in the ERP system in Qlik Sense. A report on sales development over the last ten years in the respective foreign currency and an evaluation of the average number of days after which the customer pays are also currently being created. The BI solution will also be used more in purchasing in the future.