Staying ahead of the curve is incredibly difficult in the competitive manufacturing world. What if there was a way to make your supply chain faster, leaner, and more efficient? That’s precisely what we’ll call “The Company,” a leading US manufacturer, achieved by embracing Alteryx’s Analytics Cloud Platform. Their journey is a masterclass in phased adoption, proving that even the most complex challenges can be tackled step-by-step, especially when aligned closely with IT.
Phased adoption: a recipe for success
The Company recognized Alteryx’s potential to transform its operations early on by integrating it into the most critical departments: finance and operations. By strategically phasing adoption, The Company addressed immediate pain points and used each subsequent department as a stepping stone toward broader organizational transformation.
This approach wasn’t just about ticking boxes; it was about finding the “low-hanging fruit” that could make a big splash fast in a critical part of the organization. Each phased step fueled excitement for the next phase of the journey within the organization, eventually finding a place in supply chain management.
The phased approach also helped to address a common challenge in adopting advanced analytics platforms: widespread adoption by individual siloed users. This often results in unnecessary contract duplication, increased technical debt, and unsustainable inefficiencies. Siloed functions can also lead to fragmented analytical assets. The Company avoided this common misstep by rolling out adoption through each department, according to criticality.
At The Company, the initial integration of Alteryx into finance and operations demonstrated the urgency for change and the potential for immediate impact. Early successes, such as significant operational savings from automating financial reporting and reducing manual errors, set the stage for broader adoption. Each deployment was strategically aligned with business goals to ensure that technology adoption drove long-term value.
Proactively involving IT
The Company’s effective integration of Alteryx into its supply chain management wouldn’t have been possible without strong collaboration between IT and business units. Governance strategy ensured that IT was central to the Alteryx deployment, facilitating system integrations with AWS S3, Tableau, and the ForeSight data lake, avoiding many common pitfalls.
Key outcomes and benefits
The operational savings and economic gains across departments were significant. For instance, the Automation Centre of Excellence Lead for the Americas at The Company noted, “Alteryx is modernizing our business processes and empowering the workforce across 16 BUs, impacting the eye care patient experience globally,” highlighting IT’s role in effectively managing technology costs and supporting sustainable demand growth.
Lessons learned
Incorporating IT early in the technology adoption process is crucial for analytics across all departments. The Company’s approach provides a model for fostering a culture of collaboration and governance, essential in aligning IT and business goals, enhancing technology adoption, and reducing redundancy and tech debt.
Alteryx’s transformative impact showcases the strategic advantage of comprehensive IT involvement and cross-departmental collaboration. This proactive IT engagement maximizes the benefits of platforms like Alteryx in supply chain analytics.
What’s Next
Try the Alteryx Analytics Cloud Platform
Note: This blog post has been crafted in partnership between Gib Bassett, Director of Solutions Marketing at Alteryx, and Sean O’Leary, the Alteryx Account Lead who meticulously documented the value capture for the customer discussed here. Sean’s detailed account of strategic integration and expansion provides a blueprint we are excited to share. It offers actionable insights for other organizations aiming to enhance their operations through Alteryx in collaboration with IT.