Customer Solution Case Study
/ Off-Road Vehicle Manufacturer Is Creating a Self-Serve BI System to Boost Product Quality
“We set our users loose using SQL Server 2012 PowerView against the PowerPivot data sourcesand were impressed by the reports they generated. Power View and PowerPivot are great analytical tools, and they promote easy self-service BI.”
Michael Wissink, Business Intelligence Developer, Polaris Industries
Polaris Industries, a pioneer in the snowmobile industry,is one of the world’s largest off-road vehicle manufacturers. To help it achieve its commitment to quality,Polaris required an easier system to monitor warranty claims and other data to spot and resolve quality issues swiftly. It is deploying a new warranty reportingsystem using the Power View feature of Microsoft SQL Server 2012 to gain self-service business intelligence.
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.Document published May 2012
Business Needs
One of the world’s leading manufacturers of all-terrain vehicles, Polaris Industries generated revenue of U.S.$2.7 billion in 2011. The company,which has 3,600 employees and more than 1,600 dealers, is a leader in the snowmobile industry, and itsVictory motorcycle division, established in 1998, buildsthe first all-new, American-made motorcycle in nearly 60 years.
The company’s motto, which is etched in steel at the entrance of all of the company’s locations, reads: “Understand the riding experience. Live the riding experience. Work to make it better.”
As part of its efforts to live by that motto, the company has long monitored information from its dealer warranty claims and manufacturing operations to detect and swiftly resolve issues that could affect product quality.
Initially the data was compiled by IT personnel running queries against databases and copying results into Microsoft Excel spreadsheet software to create weekly reports. Data was collected from a number of sources including the company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) data hosted on an IBM AS/400 system, and its customer relationship management (CRM) solutionthat was created using Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
In 2010, Polaris sought to further automate its monitoring process and make it easier to work with by creating what it calls its Warranty Reporting system. Warranty Reporting was implemented using aQlikView business intelligence (BI) and reporting application, which drew most of its information from a SQL Server 2000 database containing warranty data.
The Warranty Reporting system, which Polaris considers to be mission-critical, proved so popular that internal users sought new ways to use it. “The teams that used our Warranty Reporting system the most came up with a list of requested enhancements,” says Shirley Zierke, Director of Information Technology at Polaris. “They wanted to bring in data from additional sources and add features that were either not possible or not easy to implement with QlikView. We needed a solution that would make it easier to pull all of this information together.”
Solution
Working with GNet Group, Polaris began searching for the best platform for its next iteration of the Warranty Reporting system. GNet Group, which was a 2011 Microsoft BI Partner of the Year finalist, helped Polaris conduct a proof-of-concept project testing SQL Server 2012 Enterprise data management software as a BI platform.
The proof of concept included using the Power View feature of SQL Server 2012 Reporting Services. Power View is a self-service BI reporting tool that facilitates adhoc data queries. Also included in the proof of concept was Microsoft SQL Server PowerPivot for Microsoft Excel, which can be used to create cube-like analytics against a database.
Based on the success of the proof-of-concept demonstration, Polaris has begun planning for a new Warranty Reporting solution that will replace QlikView with Microsoft BI technology. The new solution will take advantage of Power View and PowerPivot for Excel to provide a self-service BI experience that can be used throughout the company.
Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 will be used to store and share data drawn from the Warranty Reporting system. Prior to launching the new system, Polaris will create an operational data store using SQL Server 2012 Enterprise. Polaris plans to host its solution using HP ProLiant BL460G7server computers.
The company also plans to upgrade its SQL Server 2000 database to SQL Server 2012 Enterprise, running on the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systemlater in the year
Benefits
By taking advantage of SQL Server 2012 BI technology, Polaris Industries will be providing knowledge workers with self-service BI and faster access to data, and, as a result, product qualitywill be enhanced.
Gains Self-Service BI
Polaris values the simple user experience that Power View and PowerPivot provide. “We chose SQL Server 2012 and Power View because of the self-service ease of use,” Zierke says. “We want to give our people a self-service solutionbecause they are the ones whoare working with the information every day.”
Zierke’s group was impressed by what the company’s analysts were able to do when given a look at the new Microsoft BI technology. “We set our users loose using SQL Server 2012 PowerView against the PowerPivot data sourcesand were impressed by the reports they generated,” says Michael Wissink, Business Intelligence Developer at Polaris Industries. “Power View and PowerPivot are great analytical tools, and they promote easy self-service BI.”
Provides Faster Access to Data
Users will gain faster access to the data they need because of the ease with which they will be able to perform their own analytics and create their own reports.
“We don’t want IT to be the bottleneck when analysts and engineers seek information,” Zierke says. “People shouldn’t have to wait for IT to create a new report. We want them to be able to slice and dice the data and create reports however and wheneverthey need.”
EnhancesProduct Quality
The new Warranty Reportingsolution will help Polaris in its commitment to quality. “This system we built using SQL Server 2012will help us react more quickly to address a newly identified problem in the field,” says Pat McArdle, Service Engineer at Polaris. “It also helps us to resolve the issue for the next vehicles we build, so they are always getting better.”
Sameer Gurav, Quality Engineer at Polaris, adds: “Ideally our Warranty Reporting system will be used by everyone in engineering. We want everyone to be able to benefit from this source of information.”
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.Document published May 2012