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Revitalizing Data Reporting for a Distribution Industry Leader
Business Situation
Since its founding in 1947 in Philadelphia, this prominent distributor of refrigeration, air conditioning, and heating equipment has grown to operate over 400 locations across the U.S. and Canada.
In 2023, the company recognized a need to modernize its reporting environment, as employees were frequently working with outdated, dense data files that made actionable insights hard to attain. To stay competitive and drive more strategic decisions, the organization saw Microsoft Power BI as the ideal tool for creating dynamic reports and empowering teams to uncover critical business insights.
However, to fully harness Power BI’s capabilities across the organization, the company needed a skilled partner to train employees on the tool's extensive features for data visualization and report creation.
Solutions
As a certified Microsoft Solutions Partner with deep Power BI expertise, we were engaged to lead comprehensive training sessions for the company’s business analysts and data engineers.
Leveraging our in-house expertise, we designed a curriculum based on "Beginning Power BI for Business Users: Learning to Turn Data into Insights," a foundational book authored by one of our consulting directors. The training provided in-depth instruction on the essentials of Power BI, enabling employees to transform data into engaging visuals, perform advanced analyses, and use intuitive reporting tools.
One challenge we addressed was the need for a unified approach to data access. With multiple departments using various reporting tools and creating queries with different interpretations, Power BI’s capabilities allowed us to establish a single source of truth. Now, all employees can access consistent datasets to generate fully informed insights, enhancing decision-making, efficiency, and resource management.
Results
Our training enabled the company’s employees to seamlessly adopt Power BI, transforming how they access and interact with data. Instead of relying on emailed Excel sheets, team members now benefit from interactive reports and filtered data views within Power BI.
As Power BI usage has grown, the organization can now manage extensive data analyses that were previously beyond Excel's capabilities, uncovering insights that drive more precise reporting and support critical decisions, such as seasonal staffing needs.
Looking ahead, we continue to support the company’s Power BI journey, assisting in the development of new datasets, converting legacy reports, and introducing automation to optimize resource allocation and further enhance operational efficiency.
DATA REPORTING DONE BETTER
How Core BTS Helped a Distribution Industry Leader
Harness Power BI to Develop More Powerful Business Insights
Business Situation
Founded in 1947 in Philadelphia, United Refrigeration Inc. (URI) is one of the largest distributors of refrigeration, air conditioning and heating equipment in North America, with more than 400 locations across the United States and Canada.
In 2023, the company recognized that its reporting environment was outdated, with employees commonly utilizing antiquated data files that were dense and difficult to draw business insights from or act upon. To modernize the company and maintain its industry leadership, URI became interested in Microsoft Power BI for its ability to create dynamic data reports and empower users to discover actionable insights.
But in order to take full advantage of Power BI’s vast capabilities for data visualization and interactive report creation and to integrate the tool companywide, URI’s leadership knew that it needed an experienced partner with the ability to train employees on how to utilize the tool’s wide array of features.
Our Solution
As a certified Microsoft Solutions Partner and an expert in Power BI, Core BTS was tapped by URI to lead a training session for business analysts and data engineers across the company’s full business team.
As the curriculum, our instructor used the book, “Beginning Power BI for Business Users: Learning to Turn Data into Insights,” which was written and published by Paul Fuller, a Director of Consulting Services at Core BTS.
The training sessions for URI included lessons on the basics of Power BI and how the software can enable users to transform data into engaging visuals through advanced analysis and AI capabilities, along with an intuitive report-creation tool.
A primary dilemma that URI was facing was how employees from various departments in the company were accessing data through different reporting tools and writing queries based on different interpretations. With Power BI, however, users are able to create datasets from any source which can then be distilled to develop a single source of truth to ensure that everyone is truly working off the same page..
By utilizing these commonly trusted datasets, URI team members from all departments are able to develop fully informed insights, allowing them to make better business decisions, optimize efficiency, and maximize financial resources.
The Results
With Core BTS having now trained multiple URI employees on how to utilize Power BI, usage of the tool continues to grow throughout the company. On a daily basis, team members are now accessing interactive reports and easily filtering data rather than having Excel sheets emailed to their inboxes.
With Power BI being infused throughout the organization, URI also is now able to manage large dataset analysis that is beyond the capabilities of Excel and uncover insights that previously went unidentified.
Such insights have led to more accurate reporting and enabled leadership to analyze sales numbers from previous years to make informed decisions about seasonal staffing.
Moving forward, Core BTS continues to help URI leverage Power BI to build out additional datasets and convert legacy reports. Additional initiatives include incorporating automation to further enhance efficiency and optimize the application of resources where they’ll be most impactful.