IBM Software

Business Analytics

The AQ Journey:
Business Analytics at
Mueller
When timing and quality control are paramount, manufacturing
organizations need to be able to plan, analyze and measure results.
They need to better manage operations, respond to customers, keep
pace with the market and drive revenue. Are we poised for growth?
This was the essential question faced by Mueller, Inc. in 1999. With this
in mind, Mueller chose IBM® Cognos® software to power its corporate
strategy and performance.

Mueller manufactures prefabricated steel buildings, roofing and

construction products that can be purchased as whole sets or
components. It has served the southwestern US for over 75 years. With
over 500 employees, the privately held company operates from three
manufacturing and distribution locations and 22 retail outlets.

“We needed to get serious about the Balanced Scorecard,” says Mark
Lack, planning and financial analysis manager at Mueller. Thus the
Mueller journey began, one that has led them to be named one of only
120 companies in world in the Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame for
Executing Strategy by the Balanced Scorecard Collaborative.

Business outcomes
“It’s like warp speed, from one universe to the next,” says Lack of the
business analytics system at Mueller. Since 2004 Mueller has used IBM
Cognos software to help:

• Support its award-winning Balanced Scorecard initiative.

• Accelerate information delivery, from three days to three minutes.
• Provide in-depth insight into sales, finance, inventory and purchasing.
• Gain fact-based analytic and decision-making capabilities.
• Improve customer sales and service.
IBM Software
Business Analytics

Phase 1: Novice
“Back in 1999 we had several pressures facing us,” says Lack. “Finance
and executives wanted to spend more time on strategy and improving
the business. Operations, sales and customer service wanted to quickly
and consistently share information across the organization to improve
results. Everyone wanted out of spreadsheet jail and fast reporting
when they needed it.”

With Y2K Mueller had decided they needed an ERP to connect the
branches. The ERP was implemented in 2000 and was incredibly effective
at capturing information, but reporting was slow – 15-20 minutes
minimum. By 2002, Mueller was focusing on the new Balanced
Scorecard, which would set the new direction for management and
staff. In essence, this strategy map would allow the company to identify
and measure key performance indicators in four areas: finance, customer
service, internal process improvements, and learning and growth.

After reviewing several vendors, Mueller selected IBM Cognos Business

Intelligence, Cognos Planning and Cognos Analytic Applications to
bring the scorecard to life.

Phase 2: Builder
The first phase was to implement the Cognos Analytic Application for
sales and general ledger. These modules enabled analysis and access to
many of the core metrics the company required.

The applications alone saved a year of development time because of

their extensive pre-built functionality. “The performance applications
had 95 percent of the information we needed right out of the box,”
Lack says. “It was a very quick implementation, and we started getting
value almost right away.”

Phase 3: Leaders
Mueller moved quickly to implement IBM Cognos 8 Business
Intelligence for reporting, scorecarding and analysis and Cognos
Planning for financial planning initiatives.

By integrating the Balanced Scorecard with financial and operational

reports and scorecards, Mueller is able to answer key questions such as:

• What type of products are people buying?

• Are customers buying complete metal buildings? Are they buying parts
or the entire project?
• What type of customer is buying Mueller products?

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IBM Software
Business Analytics

Mueller has seen some big leaps forward in terms of information speed
and accuracy. Users have faster access to standard reports and more
thorough sales analysis. In many cases, content is delivered in minutes
instead of days.

Lack says one of the first things management noticed is the new level
of insight and understanding people are sharing in company meetings.
“People in the past would talk about process or strategy and say ‘It
would be great to know the percentage of this, or why that happened.’
This kind of discussion would have been either rhetorical or would
have to be taken offline to research. We now pull up the IBM Cognos
system and can find the answers right away.”

Phase 4: Masters
Mueller very rapidly moved from an experienced to leadership phase.
Since that time they have continued to evolve the system to ask more
and more complex business questions. Thanks to the balanced scorecard
and Cognos, everyone knows the priorities, gets quick insight to data
and can collaborate across the organization to strategize. Initiatives to
increase the speed, comprehensiveness and accuracy of the system are
part of the business. They have upgraded the planning system to IBM
Cognos TM1® and are looking to upgrade the BI system to Cognos
Business Intelligence V10.1.

Raising the personal AQ

“Grateful, that’s the word that springs to mind when I think about
analytics at Mueller,” says Lack. “From the outset we have had full
support from our management team. Our CEO loves the system and
carries reports around on his Blackberry. Analytics has offered us a
fantastic opportunity to innovate, create and have impact. Simply put,
analytics is the way our business is run.”

“For my colleagues, we needed to show people results, give them an

understanding of why they happened, and give them ways that they can
effect change in their job. Today, they would build barricades around
their office if we tried to take it away. They love being able to see
results, ask deeper questions and broaden their role and focus on the
more important aspects of their job.”

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About IBM Business Analytics
IBM Business Analytics software delivers actionable insights decision-
makers need to achieve better business performance. IBM offers a
comprehensive, unified portfolio of business intelligence, predictive
and advanced analytics, financial performance and strategy management,
governance, risk and compliance and analytic applications.

With IBM software, companies can spot trends, patterns and anomalies,
compare “what if” scenarios, predict potential threats and opportunities,
identify and manage key business risks and plan, budget and forecast
resources. With these deep analytic capabilities our customers around
the world can better understand, anticipate and shape business outcomes.

For more information

For further information or to reach a representative please visit
ibm.com/analytics.

Request a call
To request a call or to ask a question, go to ibm.com/business-
analytics/contactus. An IBM representative will respond to your
inquiry within two business days.

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2011

IBM Canada Ltd.

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Produced in Canada
May 2011
All Rights Reserved

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