B2B TOSHIBA CASE STUDY

…LOGISTICALLY SPEAKING…

B2B

TOSHIBA …CASE STUDY

TO MAKE OPERATIONS SMARTER, CHEAPER AND MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY, TOSHIBA LOGISTICS TURNS TO DATA WAREHOUSING.

The high cost of perfection

Several factors contribute to the perceived high cost of logistics in Japan. One of those factors is the requirement for short lead times and another is consumer demand.

Consider consumer returns. Many Japanese tend to consider the appearance of the package to be important. In Japan, a product might be returned if there is just a small cosmetic flaw on a box—a spot on the label, for example

Most consumers outside of Japan only expect a box to be able to absorb impact during delivery and place little value on the appearance of the box itself

NEED FOR DATA WAREHOUSE

Furthermore, when returns are received from consumers and replacements shipped back, the reshipped packaging must be as good, or better, than the original. As a result, personnel fees incurred in the re-delivering process also become a significant component of Japanese distribution costs

A logistics company serving this kind of challenging market needs to optimize its performance in every possible way—thus, the need for a data warehouse

IT AS A USEFUL TOOL

Mr. Tatsuo Iwaya, who supported the project as part of the planning team, is the chief specialist of the Logistics Engineering Planning Group in the Logistics Division

He paved the way for introducing the data warehouse within Toshiba Logistics. "The data warehouse was the first tool for use by all the employees," he says. "We put our effort into making sure everyone would understand how this would be a useful system for the users.”

TERMINOLOGY

The biggest challenge was aligning the existing terminology within the systems, particularly the front-end systems connecting to the data warehouse: manufacturing may use the term "product," for example, while sales uses the term "commercial product." By standardizing these terminologies, the full operation of the system became attainable.

IMPROVED STRATEGIC DECISIONS

With access to the intelligence infrastructure for massive assimilation of corporate data, many end users, including back-office divisions and site supervisors, started to search, analyze and use the data in conjunction with issues—the data warehouse became known as "the data infrastructure for taking action."

At the same time, management began to use the data warehouse to improve strategic decisions with accurate data

Savings of around $1.5 million

The introduction of the data warehouse had more concrete effects, such as reducing the need for ledger sheets. The data warehouse eliminated the need for:

23 out of 36 books covering operations check documentation

6 out of 17 books containing documentation for shipment/delivery companies

23 out of 52 books for monthly control/analysis documents

In all, the data warehouse allowed Toshiba Logistics to cut 52 books of documents monthly—220,000 pages— for an annual savings of around $1.5 million

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH DATA?

OFTEN, DATA ITSELF IS AN ISSUE 50 BILLION E-MAILS A DAY PASS THROUGH INTERNET THE YEAR OVER YEAR INCREASE IN CORPORATE DATA CREATION IS ESTIMATED AT BETWEEN 40% AND 60% THE AMOUNT OF INFORMATION

THAT PEOPLE PROCESS ON A DAILY BASIS IS GROWING EXPONENTIALLY

WHEN OK IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH

ACTIVE DATA WAREHOUSING CONVERTS DATA FROM A BY-PRODUCT OF OPERATIONS TO A SERVICE TO THE BUSINESS

INTELLIGENT ENTERPRISES OVERCOME THE CHALLENGES OF EXPLODING DATA VOLUMES BY MANAGING INFORMATION AS AN ASSETS TO BE PLANNED, BUILT, MAINTAINED AND MINED

ENHANCE ORGANIZATION ABILITY TO TURN DATA INTO MEANINGFUL INFORMATION

E.G. WHICH ARE MY TOP TEN CUSTOMERS?

MAKING GOOD BETTER

PERFORMANCE -MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS CONNECT THE TOP-DOWN GOALS OF MANAGEMENT WITH DAY-TO-DAY BUSINESS OPERATIONS, USING LIVE INFORMATION IN THE BUSINESS TO ANALYSE THE PAST, PREDICT THE FUTURE AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, MANAGE NOW

LEADING ORGANIZATIONS ARE USING INTELLIGENCE TO SHAPE THEIR DESTINIES AND DRIVE SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS SUCCESS

INTELLIGENT ENTERPRISE

PEOPLE

MIS

TECHNOLOGY PROCESS