Russell Mineral Equipment reinvents reporting with Microsoft Power BI

Challenge

Russell Mineral Equipment (RME) is the global leader for the design, manufacture, supply, servicing and operation of mill relining technologies and services.

At the end of 2018, RME decided to undertake a data warehousing project to improve the company’s reporting capabilities. Traditionally, sales and operational planning teams had been using a series of complex spreadsheets to manage sales forecasting and capacity planning. Reporting was built manually using data from multiple sources and there was no centralised business intelligence solution to create analysis and insights. Generating sales pipeline reports was a time-consuming process requiring users to use different pivot tables and data sets to extract insights, which were then reviewed manually through a cycle of meetings with global stakeholders.

Mark Jocumsen, the RME365 program manager says, “We needed a centralised data warehouse that would let us retain historical data and plug in new data to deliver a powerful, uninterrupted view across key data sets in the business. We also needed consistency in reporting formats. A single source of truth for the data used to drive reporting and analytics was essential, as well as a method for our teams to securely query data on a daily basis.”

Solution

After a rigorous vendor selection process led by RME chose to work with the DXC Practice for Microsoft to implement Microsoft Power BI as the company’s new reporting solution. DXC was chosen as RME’s technology contractor for the project based on its in-depth knowledge of Microsoft data structures and expertise with data warehousing using Microsoft Azure cloud services.

RME chose Microsoft Power BI as its new data and reporting solution because the business aligns strongly with the Microsoft vision. Microsoft Power BI is a core component of this — delivering a business analytics solution that lets users easily visualise data and quickly share insights across an organisation.

“DXC is known for its technology expertise with Microsoft, data structures and data warehousing and brought that strong technical skill to our project. The DXC team was consistently professional, diligent, responsive and committed to the relationship with us and delivered excellent training. The DXC team was core to helping us deliver the Microsoft Power BI project on time and on budget,” says Jocumsen.

Outcomes and benefits

RME’s Microsoft Power BI project went live after a 22 week deployment. Initially the new solution replaced multiple spreadsheet-based reports in the sales and operational planning teams. Data virtualisation and automated data integration enabled users to generate self-service reports securely and quickly. Fast, easy access to sales pipeline opportunity reporting increased team productivity. Data was refreshed automatically and regularly from the new warehouse, which reduced performance latency across the entire network. And, the automated solution enabled RME to reduce costs.

“Right after going live, we had an excellent and positive response from users. The teams loved the capabilities of Microsoft Power BI in creating an easy, intuitive interface to analyse information. When they saw the potential for insights and analytics, they asked for more detailed production reports to manage daily operations. Now they’re running reports on inventory holdings, production orders and a host of other key performance indicators to help optimise operations. Reporting is faster and easier than ever,” says Jocumsen.

Microsoft Power BI is on track to continue making reporting more accessible and useful for all users globally across the RME business. Consistent reporting formats based on a single common underlying data set have introduced new levels of communication and accountability across the business’s domestic and international regions. Microsoft Power BI has also enabled RME to achieve new levels of data security, a key objective for RME’s growing international business.

Next steps for the RME team include expanding the data warehouse to further extend reporting across the business’s production and finance teams. Microsoft Power BI allows seamless reporting from multiple data sources, so RME is also exploring introducing other data sets, such as product lifecycle management information, to further improve their analytics and insights.

“Microsoft Power BI makes reporting really efficient for our users. Users no longer have to be spreadsheet gurus to query data or create pivot tables. Increased visibility to data in meaningful formats means our users have the information they need at their fingertips to better analyse facts, answer questions and make evidence-based decisions. Microsoft Power BI is a tool we can utilise really well without excessive ongoing consulting,” concludes Jocumsen.

About Russell Mineral Equipment

Founded in Toowoomba by Dr John Russell in 1985, Russell Mineral Equipment (RME) is the global leader in the design, manufacture, supply, servicing and operation of grinding mill relining technologies and services. Now, decades later, this position has never been stronger. RME has grown from being a very small company with just one employee, to one which proudly has equipment in more than 355 mine sites worldwide. RME employs more than 350 personnel in Toowoomba, Australia with more than 100 additional personnel employed globally.

RME operates from its head office in Toowoomba, Australia and has Regional Service Centres located in Western Australia, South America, South Africa, North America and Canada. RME is a global employer of choice, focussed on providing a work environment that maximises each team member’s full potential through employee engagement and professional development opportunities.