Download PDF
Information Builders > Case Studies > WebFOCUS Brings Analytic Self-Sufficiency to Associated Food Stores
Information Builders Logo

WebFOCUS Brings Analytic Self-Sufficiency to Associated Food Stores

Technology Category
  • Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics
  • Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
Applicable Industries
  • Retail
Applicable Functions
  • Business Operation
  • Sales & Marketing
Use Cases
  • Real-Time Location System (RTLS)
Services
  • Software Design & Engineering Services
  • System Integration
The Challenge
Associated Food Stores (AFS) was facing the challenge of eliminating haphazard, inaccurate one-off reports. The IT staff was burdened with dealing with individual requests for information, which was not only time-consuming but also costly. The company wanted to reduce the cost of providing relevant data to users and automate analytics, report development, and information distribution. The existing system was causing confusion about which numbers were accurate as users loaded the results into Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access to further manipulate the data. The company was also dealing with inconsistencies throughout the organization due to the use of multiple reporting technologies.
About The Customer
Associated Food Stores is an American retailers cooperative that supplies more than 400 independently-owned retail supermarkets throughout Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Colorado, Montana, Oregon, Nevada, and Wyoming. The retail cooperative ships more than 750 truckloads of groceries each week to 400 independently owned supermarkets and 43 corporate-owned stores in an eight-state region. The company was founded in 1940 when Donald P. Lloyd, president of the Utah Retail Grocers Association, convinced 34 Utah retailers to band together to face the growing threat of large grocery chains. Today, the company helps independent retailers compete against national chains by combining buying power, warehouse facilities, and technology.
The Solution
AFS decided to use WebFOCUS and InfoAssist+ to create a flexible, company-wide analytic environment that enables business users to create custom reports, dashboards, and InfoApps™ to deliver information and insights to everyone. The company rolled out a Retail Portal that allows store managers to track daily sales and labor from a time and attendance system. The portal combines point-of-sale data, financial data, and customer account information, then compares it against scheduled labor hours, total labor hours, dollars spent on wages, and overtime labor to gauge profitability. AFS also rolled out BI portals and InfoApps to internal business units such as finance, marketing, advertising, team services, design and print services, logistics, transportation, procurement, payroll, retail counselors, and its executive team. InfoApps are interactive apps that enable non-technical users to easily explore data via charts, graphs, dashboards, and reports.
Operational Impact
  • Managers have a current, company-wide view of critical metrics.
  • The IT department is free to develop new programs, rather than spending all their time troubleshooting.
  • The business community is more self-sufficient.
Quantitative Benefit
  • A single user can run payroll reports in less than half the time.
  • Approximately 1,000 people at 90 stores actively use the system to manage their operations.

Related Case Studies.

Contact us

Let's talk!

* Required
* Required
* Required
* Invalid email address
By submitting this form, you agree that IoT ONE may contact you with insights and marketing messaging.
No thanks, I don't want to receive any marketing emails from IoT ONE.
Submit

Thank you for your message!
We will contact you soon.