Sakura develops laboratory equipment for cancer research. Their ultimate goal is fully-automated anatomical pathology, so cancer can be diagnosed faster. In order to make the transition to a new ERP system, Sakura asked E-mergo to build them a data warehouse.
Sakura develops devices for each step in a pathology lab, along with associated services. Its tagline is "When it comes to diagnosing cancer, there’s no time to wait". With roots in Japan going back some 300 years, today the company has factories in Japan, the United States, and Europe. “Officially, we fall under the United States, explains Martijn Vervoort, IT Manager at Sakura, “but we’re also an autonomous entity within Europe, which allows us to operate fairly independently.” Sakura turned to E-mergo because in recent years the need has arisen to process the data from the company’s various Regional Business Units in a more uniform and validated manner.
Insights
“Within Sakura Europe there are 22 different administrations with 22 separate databases, all in Exact,” says E-mergo consultant Juriaan Hensbroek, outlining the current set-up. “While in America, the company works in Oracle and in Japan they have with their own ERP system.”
“We wanted to consolidate a number of these different administrations to enable more reliable reports,” adds Martijn. “Because to get the insights you need, everything must be underpinned by the same business logic. And as we’ll soon be running two ERP systems in parallel – Exact and Oracle – it was vital we build a robust data warehouse. But even after this hybrid period is over, a good data platform will continue to help us unlock all our data sources in one central location.”
Transparent
In January 2021, in consultation with E-mergo, Sakura identified TimeXtender as the best solution. The company was already working with Qlik Sense dashboards, which displayed data from different administrations.
“Initially, the data came from the Exact accounting package and was then made visible in Qlik Sense,” explains Juriaan. “We slotted TimeXtender in there, which brings the various different data and business logic together.” This was necessary because Sakura in Europe is switching over from Exact to Oracle. “TimeXtender allows you to work with different input screens at the front end, while the reports remain accurate at the back end. TimeXtender makes all the business logic transparent and lets you switch to a new data source without any changes occurring to the Qlik Sense dashboards.”
Single source of truth
Sakura’s data ranges from inventories to information on service visits. “We’re a trading company,” explains Martijn. “Put simply, that means we sell devices with related consumables and services. So our data concerns the various values that arise during a trade: orders, quantities, products, customers, and suppliers. Introducing TimeXtender is a bit like reinforcing the foundations of a house: you might not see anything new on the outside, but we’re now a more solid construction and ready for the future. We now have a single location for our data which ensures we have a single source of truth, instead of multiple truths coexisting because they are sourced in different ways.”
“Introducing TimeXtender is a bit like reinforcing the foundations of a house: you might not see anything new on the outside, but we’re now a more solid construction and ready for the future. We now have a single location for our data which ensures we have a single source of truth, instead of multiple truths coexisting because they are sourced in different ways.”
Martijn Vervoort, Manager IT
“And that’s ideal for TimeXtender,” adds Juriaan. “You gain more insights into your own processes and the different business logic that individual departments apply. And you can continue to work with different data streams without any problems because you can see what takes place during the calculations. This enables you to see at a glance whether, for example, a different filter has been applied in a financial transaction, leading to different numbers.”
Secure feeling
Juriaan really enjoys having Sakura as a client. “Almost all the Exact and Oracle figures are now available in TimeXtender. The final step now is to have users test the dashboards, first with dummy data and then real data. Working with Sakura is really enjoyable. The camera’s on pretty well all day, so it’s like we’re working side by side. As a result, I’ve got a real feel for the company and, to my mind, the collaboration is working really well.”
Martijn agrees. “I already knew E-mergo and a few of its developers from a previous job, so I had no doubt they could provide a suitable solution. It immediately gave me a secure feeling to be working with them again. The bulk of the work for this assignment was in the technical consultancy. And E-mergo has helped us enormously in that.”
Solution overview
Company name Sekura
Industry Other
Challenges
- The need has arisen to process the data from the company’s various Regional Business Units in a more uniform and validated manner.
Solution & benefits
- TimeXtender brings the various different data and business logic together.
- TimeXtender allows you to work with different input screens at the front end, while the reports remain accurate at the back end.
- TimeXtender makes all the business logic transparent and lets you switch to a new data source without any changes occurring to the Qlik Sense dashboards.
- There are more insights into your own processes and the different business logic that individual departments apply.
About E-mergo
The name E-mergo is derived from the Latin proverb ‘Luctor et emergo’ (I struggle and emerge). In Zeeland this signifies winning the battle against water. Obviously, we do not battle water, but we do make sure that companies keep their heads above water in the growing stream of data. Working from the motto ‘Manage your data, innovate your business’ we help you to get the most out of your data.
We do this using software from Qlik, Microsoft, Mendix and TimeXtender, for which we provide software, training, consultancy and support. Together we will help your company to create new business models and to reduce costs.
www.e-mergo.nl
TimeXtender
TimeXtender : July 12, 2022
