A leading retail and distribution company based in Kuwait, specializing in fashion, footwear, food, and lifestyle brands across the Middle East. It operates numerous franchise partnerships with renowned global brands, delivering premium products and services.

The Problem

It encountered several operational issues:

1. Inventory Management Challenges:
   • Overstocking of perishable items led to significant wastage.
   • Understocking caused missed sales opportunities and dissatisfied customers.
2. Sales Visibility Issues:
   • Lack of real-time sales performance reports.
   • Regional managers struggled to identify low-performing products or markets.
3. Inefficient Decision-Making:
   • Reports were manually created using spreadsheets, leading to delays and errors.
   • Leadership lacked actionable insights to optimize supply chain and sales strategies.

Approach to Solve the Problem

1. Understanding Business Requirements:
   • Conducted workshops with stakeholders (operations, sales, and leadership teams) to gather specific requirements.
   • Defined KPIs: inventory turnover ratio, regional sales trends, product-wise sales, and wastage metrics.
2. Data Integration:
   • Connected Cognos Analytics to Alyasra’s ERP and sales databases.
   • Built a Data Module to unify sales, inventory, and product master data.
3. Report and Dashboard Design:
   • Created real-time Inventory Management Dashboards to track stock levels and highlight expiring products.
   • Developed Sales Performance Reports with regional, product, and time-period filters for in-depth analysis.
   • Designed Exception Reports to flag wastage trends and low-performing items.
4. Testing and Validation:
   • Validated reports with historical data to ensure accuracy.
   • Conducted end-user training sessions to empower teams to interact with and derive insights from the reports.

Resolution and Results

The implementation of Cognos Analytics reports resulted in the following improvements:

1. Reduced Wastage:
   • Inventory dashboards highlighted products nearing expiration, enabling timely promotions or redistribution.
2. Improved Sales Monitoring:
   • Regional managers used sales reports to identify and focus on low-performing products.
3. Faster Decision-Making:
   • Automated real-time reporting reduced manual effort and errors.
   • Leadership could make data-driven decisions during weekly strategy meetings.
4. Enhanced Collaboration:
   • Teams across operations and sales shared consistent, accurate insights, improving coordination.

Key Takeaways

• Problem-Solving Approach: Collaborative requirement gathering and leveraging Cognos Analytics to create actionable, real-time reports.
• Impact: Significant improvements in operational efficiency, waste reduction, and revenue growth.
• Future Recommendations: Introduce predictive analytics in Cognos to forecast demand and optimize stock levels further.