Success Story - LOWA Schuhe AG

LOWA SWITZERLAND accelerates analytics with Qlik Sense SaaS

ERP data analysis in turbo speed

„With Qlik, we are able to extract many times more information from our ERP data with a fraction of the effort.“

Daniela Kläusler, Coordinator Marketing and Data, LOWA Schuhe AG

The customer

If you want to be good on your feet outdoors, especially in challenging terrain, you can't do without LOWA shoes. Founded in 1923 near Munich by Lorenz Wagner as a shoemaker's workshop, LOWA is now considered one of the most important outdoor shoe manufacturers in the world. LOWA shoes are currently exported to 80 countries around the world, and are manufactured exclusively at production sites in Europe. This enables the company to meet significantly shorter delivery times and ensure consistent quality control at every single stage of production.

Erfolgsgeschichte - LOWA Schuhe AG - Informatec

Solution at a glance

Industry: Sports shoes and sporting goods
Departments: Logistics, Accounting, Controlling, Executive Management
Region: Interlaken, Switzerland
Data sources: two ERP systems
Utilised technologies: Qlik Sense SaaS, Jedox, iVIEW Dataflow, iVIEW for Abacus
ROI & Time-to-value: Analyses in seconds instead of hours and uniform data understanding

Initial situation

A great deal of time invested to create reports

Control is not only important to the outdoor and mountain boot manufacturer with regard to quality. LOWA Switzerland also wanted to keep a close eye on the data and the control-relevant information hidden in it, with as little effort as possible. This required action, as Daniela Kläusler, Marketing and Data Coordinator at LOWA Schuhe AG, explains. "In the past, it was very time-consuming to read out the data from our ERP systems and compile it in report form. As some reporting is required on a regular basis, a high time investment had to be made for this on a recurring basis."

The remedy was to be a user-friendly data analytics and reporting solution that enables both reliable, automated data updates and a high degree of flexibility in evaluation options and the connectable data sources: in the medium term, there is a plan to replace the current ERP system for merchandise management.

Solution

Recommendation for Qlik and Informatec

An IT partner pointed Daniela Kläuslerin the right direction by recommending Informatec as a BI specialist and suggesting taking a closer look at their Qlik-based evaluation platform iVIEW.

After an initial promising solution presentation, LOWA Switzerland entered into dialogue with two associated companies which had also solved their BI challenges with Informatec and Qlik. "Their positive experiences finally definitively convinced us to work with both of them," says Daniela Kläusler.

In a joint analysis workshop, the starting position, goals and options were determined. Informatec then took care of the implementation of Qlik. In order to be as lean and performant as possible in terms of IT infrastructure, LOWA Switzerland opted for the cloud variant, Qlik Sense SaaS. The Informatec team soon demonstrated its technological competence in connecting the data sources: In modern database structures, one item is usually mapped per line, but in one of the ERP systems, one line contains several items. Some adjustments were necessary to provide the data in the desired form for use in Qlik. The next project step was the development of various applications for sales and accounting.

Application area and users

Turnover and stock analyses

Qlik applications are used in logistics, accounting and controlling as well as by the management.

For example, turnover analyses can be called up according to criteria such as product group, model, region and medium through which the order was received etc. The “tops” and “flops” lists show at a glance which model is doing particularly well and which is less popular. Analysis is also possible of

where each representative has customers, how many orders are generated in each case and which models are sold and the quantities, etc.

The warehouse manager uses an overview of the finished goods warehouse to get an overview of the stock level, for example, or of the number of open orders as a basis for personnel deployment planning.

The accounting department analyses personnel data such as wages and absences in Qlik, as well as overviews for contribution margin accounting.

Higher speed and a truth

The biggest advantage of Qlik is speed. "We now have up-to-date data on various issues at our fingertips."

Through the automated updating of data, analyses and reports can now be provided on a daily basis.

Since Qlik acts as a central database, it also ensures that all employees are working with the same data. This ensures a uniform understanding and clarity within the company.

"We are really excited about how much more we can now get out of our data with Qlik," Daniela Kläusler emphasises. "We recently we showed our associates from LOWA Germany the solution. Their comment: 'Wow we need something like that!'"

Qlik Sense

Freedom for the intuition

Qlik Sense is a revolutionary application that enables anyone to create self-service data visualisation, personalised reports and dynamic dashboards.

to QLIK SENSE

Future

Expansion in planning

Qlik will also be used in the service department in the future: a dashboard is being developed that will provide information on the number and type of repairs per shoe model.

In addition, a turnover overview is being planned over several years.

As an official Qlik Training Partner, Informatec will ensure the desired independence in the use of Qlik with various workshops and company-specific training courses that also enable independent further development of Qlik. Next on Daniele Kläusler's schedule is the workshop "Create Visualisations with Qlik Sense".

LOWA Switzerland benefitted not only from Informatec's training expertise, but also from the Qlik Elite solution provider's network: LOWA Switzerland wanted to replace the Excel-based quantity planning with a lean, powerful planning tool. Informatec recommended the right partner in Consilix, which provided more planning transparency within a few weeks by implementing Jedox.