Logistics companies like Rhenus Warehousing Solutions have access to massive amounts of data. But how do you extract meaningful information from all this data that can also be used to help you achieve your strategic goals? Rhenus did just that with the help of E-mergo. "With the combination of TimeXtender for data management and Microsoft Power BI for data visualisation, we can make the strategic decision to base our decisions on data for the long term," says Maurice Meijers, team leader of the Data Solutions team.
Rhenus Warehousing Solutions is an international logistics company. It has around 37,500 employees at 970 locations around the world, working for a wide range of industries. The company optimises complex logistics processes and specialises in multimodal transport, warehousing, and customs clearance. Rhenus Warehousing Solutions in the Netherlands employs around 1,200 people.
A clear vision and a pragmatic approach
In 2020, Managing Director Markus Simons decided that Rhenus Netherlands had to become more data-driven. That meant a lot. There were systems in place for process mining, but they were not coherent and therefore not future-proof. In addition, the logistics industry generates huge amounts of data. For E-mergo, the first question was how to tackle this from an organisational and technical point of view. One of the recommendations was to set up a data solutions team. The team was to be led by Maurice Meijers, who took up the challenge with both hands in June 2021. He reports to Finance Director Miranda Hopstaken. She is well aware of the reasons why Rhenus chose E-mergo: "On the one hand, their clear vision of data-driven working, but also their structured and pragmatic approach. They provide tailored recommendations based on an assessment of the company's situation."
Following his appointment, Maurice was also pleased with the choices made: "The philosophy of as little programming and as much automation as possible appealed to me. That's the basis of TimeXtender. I also liked the choice of standardisation with Microsoft tools and cloud migration: this makes it scalable, efficient, and secure. These were also the reasons why I decided to work with a new team, as a kind of start-up within the company, with new tools to take on this challenge. By doing this, we have laid a good foundation for the long-term implementation of the strategic decision to base our decisions on data. This is not just the job of my team, it is embedded throughout the organisation and driven by a strong vision.
"With the combination of TimeXtender for data management and Microsoft Power BI for data visualisation, we can make the strategic decision to base our decisions on data for the long term.”
Maurice Meijers, Team Leader of the Data Solutions Team
Rhenus started by unlocking the data from the warehouse management system. The system contains a lot of scanned information, which means the quality of the data is very good. However, the volume of data and computing power is enormous. "It is a balancing act between performance, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. The ultimate goal is to use data to gain a better understanding of product, process, people, and finance. It's not about confronting or belittling people; we don't want to create a Big Brother or blame culture. Instead, we want to make numbers or results debatable," explains Maurice. Miranda adds: "Rhenus has recently developed a new strategic plan for the year 2025, which is based on five strategic pillars. How are we going to monitor whether or not we are achieving these strategic objectives? In the past, it was mostly a matter of feeling and intuition. Data helps us to put this in more concrete terms and to find out what actions we need to take to achieve our goals. The new strategy will bring focus, and the data will make it objective."
Data visualisation at your fingertips
Hugo Winkelhorst has been an E-mergo consultant for Rhenus since February 2022. He has helped open sources and he worked on the setup and management of Power BI. He also answers questions from end users. "Rhenus needed more insight into their data through good reporting, but they were still using systems that weren't up to the task. They were already using QlikView and added TimeXtender as a data layer. They then chose Power BI for the visualisations. One of the biggest benefits of Power BI is that users can work with it themselves. They are able to maintain and manage standardised reports and create visualisations in Power BI. Rhenus estimated that there would be 100 users, but now there are almost 200. Another advantage is TimeXtender's ability to handle much larger volumes of data. As a result, they are able to draw conclusions over a longer period of time. Hugo spends one day a week at Rhenus and works closely with Maurice's team. "We have not yet encountered any challenges that we cannot solve. In the near future, we want to make it even easier for end users to run their own analyses and to set up central management reports correctly," says Hugo.
Motivated group
Wesley Cruz is a colleague of Hugo's at E-mergo and has been responsible for the Power BI Academy training courses. The starting point is a beginner's course: what is data? What can I do with it? What analytics can you run? Then there is an introduction to the Power BI tool. What fields are available? What kind of visualisations can you create? There were 8 to 12 people in the beginner training groups. Wesley says: "A large group of people went through this one-day training. On the basis of this initial acquaintance, an expert group was formed from staff members who wanted to learn more about it. They have had a two-day training session that goes into more depth on the material. This is based on the official Microsoft training. As a Microsoft Certified Trainer, I can give this training. The participants then establish relationships between data on their own. This expert group is a group of pioneers who can take their colleagues along with them by means of knowledge sharing. In the basic training course, the Rhenus data set was used and a report was produced. The advanced users started working with the Power BI desktop, a program that lets you add sources, create relationships between data, and save and publish. "I found it a very positive experience: the employees were very involved and curious. It was a fun, motivated group," says Wesley.
Endless possibilities
Maurice is very positive about the way he works with E-mergo. "They are flexible and can easily reschedule an appointment if we can't make it. They also think along with us: I see them more as a partner. We share the same values and long-term vision. They are very experienced, fascinated by data and aware of the latest trends. Rogier from E-mergo now works for other clients, but he still calls from time to time to catch up. I really appreciate that kind of intrinsic, genuine interest in how things are going over here. They also have contacts at the highest level with Microsoft and TimeXtender, so they know early on what is going on. That benefits us.” The aim of E-mergo is to get Rhenus employees involved in the project themselves. Maurice would also like to be able to give trainings himself. "We could get the official Microsoft manual from E-mergo. The other day, Hugo explained how best to publish a report, and we're going to make an instructional video of that, which we'll share. E-mergo likes to share everything!” Rhenus has big plans for the future. "In particular, to bring more intelligence through advanced analytics, AI, matching algorithms and forecasting. That really is the next level. The possibilities are endless, and I hope we can explore them together with E-mergo," says Maurice.
Solution Overview
Industry: Logistics
Challenges: Large volumes of data
Solution: TimeXtender & Microsoft Power BI
Benefits
- More insight into products, processes, people, and finances
- Data supports achieving strategic goals
About E-mergo
The name E-mergo comes from the Latin proverb 'luctor et emergo' (I struggle and emerge). In Zeeland, this stands for overcoming the struggle against the water. Of course, we do not fight against the water, but we do ensure that companies can keep their heads above water in the ever-growing stream of data. Under the motto 'Manage your data, innovate your business,' we help you get the most out of your data. We do this with the help of Qlik, Mendix, Microsoft, and TimeXtender, for which we provide software, training, consultancy, and management. Together, we enable your business to create new revenue models and save costs.
E-mergo www.e-mergo.nl
TimeXtender
TimeXtender : May 6, 2024
